root canal or extraction

this is making me feel queasy just thinking about it, got to having a filling in march and already feeling nervous about it. I hate needles, dentists, doctors and most other things
 
Someone up-thread mentioned anaesthetic. What is that like these days?

In 1993, I had 2 teeth removed following a car accident. The needle went into my gums to numb it, and to relieve the needle pain, they placed this cotton wool in my mouth first. Think it was soaked in some liquid that was a temporary pain relief so that you didn't feel the needle as much. Then once the anaesthetic was administered, you were numb for the next 6 hours or so.
 
Modern anaesthetics are flawless. The only bit of pain is the needle. But even then, my 8 year old managed it without much fuss. That bit is over quickly.
 
I'm not a fan of needles but honestly I have had quite a few at the dentist for work on my front tooth over the years (crown work). This part of the process doesn't hurt (subject to the competency of the dentist I guess) I have actually started to stop worrying about it.

In terms of pain it's like a flu jab so not very I think. psychologically you have a needle up to your face so things are unnecessarily amplified.
 
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Pawnless Endgame said:
My ISA has £3500 in it and I suspect I'd levy numerous £270 bills on me as I've gone without for many years if I was ever to find a dentist again.
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Rroff said:
Depends - usually I believe if they do complex procedures as part of one course of treatment you will be charged it only once even if that is repeat visits as long as they can bundle it all together - at least that is how my dentist does it.
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indeed, i had a fair bit of work done 2years ago now. in the end just had to pay band 3 once and that was it. Usually you get the paperwork, after a check up, of what has to be done and this will then be classed as 1 treatment.




BTT:
get the root canal. save the tooth if you can. NHS doesn't offer implants so if you were to do that privately, would probably set you back around £2k.
 
All of you having injections at the dentist and saying it hurts, are you not aware they can numb it for you before you have an injection?

I pay for private dental care and he uses Something with the same texture as candy floss which tastes like bubblegum, that numbs the area before he gives you the injection.

It is also available if you use an NHS dentist.
 
I had a root canal done last week.

it was the most painless, simple procedure I could ever imagine. I didn’t even feel the needle.

I was genuinely gobsmacked at how straight forwards it was.

The worst part is laying there with your mouth wide open for some time, I genuinely almost fell asleep at one point! Didn’t feel a damn thing.
 
Pawnless Endgame said:
Someone up-thread mentioned anaesthetic. What is that like these days?

In 1993, I had 2 teeth removed following a car accident. The needle went into my gums to numb it, and to relieve the needle pain, they placed this cotton wool in my mouth first. Think it was soaked in some liquid that was a temporary pain relief so that you didn't feel the needle as much. Then once the anaesthetic was administered, you were numb for the next 6 hours or so.
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Anaesthetics have come along way in the last 10 years or so.

I remember having fillings in my mid teens, and the injections used to numb the entire side of your mouth. - to the point where you can't even drink from a glass/cup without spilling down yourself.

Now they seem to be able to numb very locally to the tooth/gum, so that the rest of your mouth works fine - infact you don't even realise there is any numbness.

WRT the injection itself, i've never been too bothered by it (much prefer that than the drilling), and normally the numbness kicks in immediately, so any discomfort from the needle is very quick. The only time i've ever noticed is much later in the day when everything has worn off, the area of the gum where the needle went in can feel a little tender.
 
rare said:
I had a root canal done last week.

it was the most painless, simple procedure I could ever imagine. I didn’t even feel the needle.

I was genuinely gobsmacked at how straight forwards it was.

The worst part is laying there with your mouth wide open for some time, I genuinely almost fell asleep at one point! Didn’t feel a damn thing.
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you didn't care when they got the blowtorch out? was a WTF moment for me :eek:
 
I had a removal last Thursday - never even had a filling before but had horrible pain along with an infection. The process wasnt particularly painful but took about 40 mins. Dentist said it was quite a complicated removal and with it being a 3 root tooth that didnt help. It is a weird sensation as there is no pain due to the anaesthetic, but it was enjoyable having a screwdriver and pliers in my mouth. I've had a bit more pain the past couple of days but I'm putting that down to the trauma of having a tooth wrenched out of my mouth for 40 minutes. I should be past the stage now of dry socket fingers crossed.
 
Rroff said:
I don't get what people are so afraid of with dentists - unless their dentist is a bad one and does careless work.
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My childhood dentist was a butcher, and never offered the option of anaesthetic.

But the dentists I've had since have all been fine.

What I do struggle with is a feeling of claustrophobia if he's doing anything that means you get liquid or bits at the back of your mouth - even with the suction removing the worst of it. A good while back, he used a rubber 'dental dam' for a filling, and it was heaven - but has never done so since. I keep meaning to ask him if he can use them again, but never remember at an appropriate time. (And now all the issues hanging over from childhood are largely dealt with, it's very rare I need anything other than check-up and polish anyway.)
 
In answer to the original question - I believe an extraction is a bad idea if it can be avoided. The lack of a tooth puts a lot of stress on the teeth either side of the gap.

As per another poster - when I had a root canal done, I dozed off in the chair because there was no pain and it took a while.
 
not like the good old days of anaesthetic where they put a horrible smelling gas mask over your face and you felt sick for hours afterwards and they would rather just pull them out instead of filling
 
I had a RC done about 8 years ago and although the tooth he was working on usually has 3 roots my tooth had 4, one of which he couldn't get at. It's been ok, occasionally aches a bit but nothing compared to the pain that led me there in the first place.
 
I hate going to the dentist and have picked extraction over root canal twice now. If there’s no teeth, there’s no need for a dentist! Pretty much resigned to having falsies by the time I’m 60.
 
rxodium said:
Brother experienced the same thing getting a wisdom tooth removed. His dentist is ex-army and an absolute unit apparently and even then it took forever to get the tooth out and the dentist was sweating buckets.

That's why I hate the dentist. I hate people in my personal space and you can't get more in your personal space than being right up in your face trying to yank teeth out. Just knock me out and do what work needs to be done.
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That's understandable, but the cost and risks go up a fair bit with general anaesthetic so it should be avoided when it isn't necessary. I find an eye test bothersome for the same reason, but I weigh up the pros and cons and make my mind obey my intellect for the short time required.

I can think of several things that are as much or more in your personal space than dentistry. Prostate checking, smear testing, a visit to the clap clinic, just off the top of my head. More so when there are people learning the speciality, which is often the case. "Do you mind if they observe?" Well yes, but they have to learn so let them watch.
 
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