Dentist won’t do root canal until baby is here

[oakland42]

I recently had a filling and now the tooth is really sensitive and have mild discomfort when I eat, seems to be getting worse. Dentist said highly likely it needs root canal but won’t do it until Abby is here because of the x-ray.

she said she can put some medication in the tooth but I wouldn’t be able to chew on that side of my mouth until baby is here. I’m only just in second trimester so just don’t see how that is possible to not chew on one side for potentially 8 months.

anyone been through something similar, I’m nervous it’s going to get worse and soon reallly painful.

It’s not an emergency, so no x-ray. If push comes to shove, you could have the tooth extracted.

It could also be pregnancy related tooth sensitivity which is very common and resolves itself once the baby is landside.

Can’t they put a lead apron over you to take an x-ray?

I had a lot of sensitivity after my filling pre pregnancy! It did go down eventually but actually took me a few months. So hopefully yours will lessen.

I had a root canal when pregnant. That’s was 31 years ago though.

Ds grew to 6ft 4 and is fine.

I’m not sure how that’s helpful to the OP when her dentist has declined to do the required xray due to her being pregnant?

I found out I was pregnant because I had a massive infection that required a root canal. I took an early pregnancy test just in case and everything ground to a halt. Since it was a massive infection, what had to happen was a GP agreed with the dentist that the risk of infection was too high to wait.

as for X-rays, I got extra lead aprons and they only did a couple instead of the usual frequency.

if it actually becomes dangerous, they will proceed. Just being in the annoying phase is the tricky part.

I had several oral Xrays while pregnant. They put a lead apron over bump. I was told the risk is so teeny to baby, that going on a transatlantic flight would expose it to more radiation

You can have dental xrays when pregnant, the radiation dose to baby is pretty much 0. If the dentist is really worried they can use a lead apron but it's not necessary.

I would delay routine xrays, more for peace of mind of the patient, but if your in pain there's absolutely no reason the dentist can not go ahead with either the xray or the root canal treatment. And this would be preferable to getting an infection

Oh OP! As recently having had a root canal due to being in agony with a tooth that never fully was right following a filling I can’t imagine how you’re feeling being told dentist can’t do a root canal! I’m not pregnant btw so no issues with x-rays. But like you, I had issues following a filling for about a year that got worse - high sensitivity, couldn’t eat on that side. But as it was manageable, and I’m a big wuss when it comes to the dentist, I just didn’t eat on that side, avoided sensitivity triggers and managed. Until one night I woke up in excruciating pain with it and had to seek emergency dental treatment. Unfortunately you may need to get to that point before they’ll treat you as it’ll be deemed an emergency.

With mine, they did actually put medicine into my tooth, like your dentist is proposing, as an emergency treatment to stop the pain. The dentist had to do it a few times a few weeks apart to clear the infection before she could actually do the root canal. Apart from the first x-Ray I had to diagnose the infection, I don’t think I had another (maybe one at the end to check it was all done properly, I can’t remember), as dentist could see the infection when she went into the tooth and just kept cleaning it out, putting medicine (I believe antibiotics and pain relief) in there, packing it and putting a temp filling over. I will say the temp filling lasted 2-3 weeks each time and sure I was told it could last up to a month. And the pain went. I know it’s not ideal as it drags it on for you until baby is here, but it did work for me and I was pain free until I could have the root canal, and the procedure wasn’t too bad. I definitely could eat on that side just nothing chewy or sticky that might pull the filling out.