Root canal and crown - positive experiences?

[Raffie13]

I am getting a root canal and crown next week.
I've never had anything more than a filling before and I am actually terrified of the dentist! Never had any bad experiences, never had braces or anything. Just terrified. Anything to do with teeth (cracking, pulling, scraping..anything!) freaks me out.

Simply laying back for them to look at my teeth gives me such bad anxiety, and the thought of going to the dentist gives me anxiety and dread for days beforehand.

I'm having it all done in one go because the fear is just too bad to go across multiple appointments. It could take up to a couple hours they said.

I'm looking for positive stories, and I'm also interested in how your root canal and crown lasted long term. I've read online that they last 8-10 years if looked after...does that mean the tooth would need extracting later down the line?

I know this will sound so daft to many people! But it's a genuine fear of mine.

My root canal was brilliant - relief the moment they started the procedure. The actual procedure, not the numbing. It wasn’t painful or all that uncomfortable. I’m really good with pain but have a real aversion to scraping type stuff on my teeth, but I managed it fine. It’s been about 12 years now, and I don’t look after my teeth any more than the usual brushing, and no problems whatsoever.

Hope this reassures you a bit. Well done for facing your fear!

I've had 4 done over a number of years and would quite happily go in for another. The only downside is the length of the appointment.

I've only had one crown fail and it was 20 years old. The fix was quite straightforward.

It can be a bit long and a touch uncomfortable, but that really is the extent of it.

Like @breatheinskipthegym said, the relief when they take the nerve out is orgasmic. I had an old filling that had been touching my nerve for 3 weeks and I'd take 100 root canals over that pain.

Same as pp. I had a root canal and was petrified.
The numbing injections hurt as usual, but the worst part for me was keeping my mouth open for so long. They gave me a rubber block to kind of rest my teeth on, but it still felt weird to close my mouth at the end.

I haven't had the crown as I couldn't afford it all at the time, but will have it put on soon.
But it was great. Tooth is fine and zero pain since.

I had a terrible dental phobia for years and didn’t go to the dentist for more years than I dare say. I only went in the end because a had tooth broken. I had a root canal and crown and I can honestly say that I didn’t feel a thing. It was completely painless and I’ve had no problem with it since. I actually felt really ridiculous afterwards because I made such a fuss about it and then it was fine! My advice is to find a dentist do you feel comfortable with and who knows how nervous you are. My mum has just had a crown replaced it is 15 years old. Came out and she bit of peace of toffee! They just replaced it with a new one - no fuss.

Good luck, I know how terrifying it can be, but you’ll be fine!

I hate the dentist - try and put on a brave face, but put it off forever.

Probably because of that I've had around 6 root canal fillings. They are not the best thing, but I've never understood the comments people make about taking a couple of days off work to recover etc. It's the dentist, it's not great (though not painful), but you just get on with it, and it's really not that bad.

One tip - I always take a couple of paracetamol half an hour before my appointment, as I think that takes the edge of things.

I'm a recovering dental phobic. I can do most things in the chair without sedation these days, because techniques, skill and quality of work have come on so far. I even had an extraction last year.

I've had two root canals and one crown in the last five years or so. Both went very well, no pain.

We've realised that it's a control thing for me. I need to see the tool they are using before they stick it in my mouth. I want lots of detail on the procedure. It seems counter intuitive to the dentist because most fearful people want to see nothing! For me though, if I see it I can rationalise it. Not seeing it scares me.

Also, a stress ball helps, and so does concentrating on my breathing.

I had the first part of my root canal yesterday.
This is what will happen:

• the dentist will look in your mouth. She tapped my tooth and put some super cold stuff on it to see if I could feel anything (I couldn’t, my tooth was dead and hadn’t ever hurt).
• they then inject you. It is not pleasant, they injected me in my gum and roof of my mouth. Be aware you may swallow some of the numbing stuff and it tastes gross and makes your throat numb which is somehow quite a cool sensation?!
• at this point I cried 🤦‍♀️ because I felt very overwhelmed and had psyched myself up a lot so the dentist stopped and was very nice to me.
• they put this mad rubber thing in your mouth to isolate the tooth from the rest of your mouth which is good as it stops the chemicals going down your throat. It doesn’t make you gag as it’s outside your mouth and it doesn’t impact your breathing. Not like a mask. It’s like a rubber sheet that loosely goes across your mouth but plenty of room to breathe and get fresh air.
• the drilling and cleaning is fine honestly. The worst part is when they shove the tiny file thing into the root because you can feel them yanking around but honestly it’s not that bad. I raised my hand every time it hurt and had another injection but ultimately I could have probably carried on each time without more numbing. Pain was minuscule.
• she then put some hydrochloride or something in my tooth to keep it clean between treatments and did the temporary filling. It feels like a lump of blu tack in my tooth - not nice.
• afterwards I felt no pain. Today my gum is swollen and a little sore but barely. I’m going to keep an eye on the swelling.

The worst part is having this temporary filling until I can go back on the 30th. I kept my eyes shut and tried to breathe deeply but I shook the whole time. It was ultimately unpleasant but that’s because I have anxiety and was very tense the whole time and worried about feeling faint etc. The actual procedure is ok and actually the drilling and cleaning is not unrelaxing!

I don’t know if this helps but I’ve had loads of dental stuff done over my life following an accident as a young teen. What I do is to lie back and imagine that I’m in the room with small children I love. So I need to be calm so they won’t develop a fear of the dentist. It always works for some reason!

Longevity - I’m well into my fifties and have root canals and crowns that were done when I was 12/13 years old. At the time I was told I would have false teeth after 10 years at most.
I don’t have false teeth!
Everyone else has given great advice - good luck.

I've had one, it wasn't painful.
Can you listen to a gripping podcast or book whilst they work? Might be a good distraction?

I’ve had several root canals. The injections are by far the worst part, plus keeping your mouth open for so long.

I made sure to schedule the appointments for when I wouldn’t have to go back to work with a numb face. I took a lavender oil rollerball with me, and also (I know this sounds nuts) a small soft toy to squeeze in my hands. (Mine was a Beanie Baby type thing). The dentist will understand that you are nervous and give you a signal for if you want to stop and take a breather, like raising your hand. The last ones I had were with a specialist root canal person in a very fancy surgery, and he had a TV above the chair, and let me pick what to watch.

I asked for time/progress updates - now I am doing X, you will feel Y, and it will take Z time - which was helpful for me, but might be awful for a lot of people!

I made sure I had a “treat” for afterwards, buying a bunch of flowers on the way home, knowing I was coming back to a parcel I had ordered, something nice for dinner.

It’s probably not allowed st the moment, but if I had wanted it my DP could have come with me. (He could have either sat in the treatment room or in the waiting area.)

Mine were two x 90 minute appointments, then impressions, then crown fitting - about three months in total.

Not unreasonable
And wow to have it in one session ! That’s amazing
Could you take a sedative ? I know it’s nigh impossible these days

But one session ! I’m so jealous
Mine took 4 😣

And it’s better than alternatives

Pain
Extracting it
More pain

I hate them too , but if nothing else have a glug of whiskey , something to mellow you and get in there !

Rest for the next 24 hours
Don’t panic if it’s painful afterwards
Just cane the painkillers xxx

I had to have a root canal when heavily pregnant of it a deep hole and was terrified. Honesty it was no worse than a filling! Bit longer but it was completely numb and the lack of pain after was a dream. Be brave it won’t be bad. In the ‘olden days’ they did them without analgesia and it’s drilling out the nerve so you can imagine it would have been agony but nowadays it’s fine. Honestly

One thing i did that helped was to raise one leg
It’s weird but it takes a lot of energy to elevate one leg , so all your thinking goes into holding that leg up
Then do the other
You’ll ache after but as your gums will ache anyway !!!!

1. Tell the dentist how you're feeling. Don't try to hide it. They see it all the time and know how to help you.

1. Take headphones and listen to something really calm and relaxing. It helps enormously.

1. Plan something afterwards that you can look forward to and think about during the procedure.

I hope that helps! It won't be as bad as you think.

Thanks everyone! I'm just re reading these comments for some positivity! Appointment is in 35 minutes

Breathe and count breaths
Raise that leg
Remember the nicest holiday you ever had and play it

You’ll be ok xxxx

@Raffie13 How did you get on today?

@ignatiusjreilly

Thank you so much everyone for helping me remain positive before this! It sounds so daft but I feel like I have achieved something today 😂

It went really well! Part way through she paused and I asked her what the root canal part would feel like and she said 'oh I've already been in there!' So that gave me so much confidence for the rest of it. I listened to some dentist phobia hypnosis on YouTube at the same time too and it just gave me something else to focus on which was nice.

In the end she decided to do the crown in January though so I do have to go back for the prep for that. But I already feel so much more confident.

For anyone who may come across this post in future, honestly, if I can do it then you can. It really was fine (no one is lying about it being fine, it actually is!)

Well done! I'm really pleased to hear it went so well.