Root Canal Work

I should add as some people are saying they might have had some pain, my treatment was by a private dentist, it cost me £600. Not quite sure what sort of treatment you get off the NHS.
 
I had to have root canal + crown done but chose to get it done privately.

The worst it got was what I would call "mild discomfort", and that was only when she was putting the dam on. No biggie at all.
 
Had root canal work done after cracking a tooth; took 6 months to completely sort it. Initially had a tempory crown which got infected and then they discovered that some nerves had been left left in. This meant a few weekly visits to the dentist for him to drill down through the new crown they had put on to get at the nerves for removal.
 
I'm terrified of injections and have bad teeth :(

That said, root canal work isn't anything to worry about, though if it's been infected and they do a filling too, do not walk out of there without antibiotics, or you will be in for some screaming, brain breaking agony if the infection comes back.

I've had root canals done both semi-private (denplan) and NHS - no real difference in dentist skill level or technique, though the private one had more up to date toys. One of the big differences between NHS and private is that NHS is happier to go straight to extraction rather than complicated stuff (so fight for your right to keep your teeth), and they won't do a white filling on the NHS unless it's going to be visible.
 
Injections when I went private were fine... they put this gel around your gums to completely numb them, then gently put in this needle that's attached to some computerised anaesthetic machine. You really don't feel much at all.

Last time I went NHS was a good few years ago so I don't know if they have all those toys too now.

EDIT: Don't go doing research on the procedure before you have it. I made the mistake of doing this and scared myself stupid.
 
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You can ask for numbing gel whether they're NHS or private (they all seem to keep it for use on kids), but I've found it doesn't make much difference. Never seen the automatic anesthetic machines.
 
Once again I'll mention that it's all down to the condition of the nerve.

With 2 of my teeth they couldn't give me any more needles because I'd gone past my quota and I had to sit there in agony.
With the other 4 it was a mild discomfort because those nerves were totally dead.
If you are really bothered you could pay for an injection that puts you in another world and you definitely won't feel anything however it does add a substantial amount to your bill.
 
I had 2 root canals done last year. They were the result of 2 old broken fillings in the large molars at the back of my mouth. Over the years the fillings had dropped out and left what was basically a hollow tooth, which suddenly became extremely painful one day (I mean really, really, really bloody painful)

The pain ebbed after a few days so I put it off and put it off, eventually signed up to an NHS dentist locally, had a check up and he said straight away 2 root canals will need doing, he did them one at a time, 2 30-40 minute sessions on each (1 uncomfortable session of digging, followed by 1 session of not even slightly uncomfortable filling) followed by a check up at the end. 1 year later, both are fine, I get the odd dull ache once in a blue moon but it's barely noticable. I was in almost constant agony before so the difference is immense.

Cost in the region of £39 I think, but the NHS prices have climbed slightly since then.
 
dmpoole said:
Once again I'll mention that it's all down to the condition of the nerve.
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That seems odd to me. I've has a **** load of dental work and never felt a thing (with the private guy), including root canal at the back with live nerves/cosmetic work on 5-6 live teeth. In-fact, they advertise pain free dentistry, and make a point of stopping for a break and numbing you up if you feel a single thing. I was under the impression that the maximum permitted dose of Novocain (when used directly into the nerve/accurate deep root block) will numb any tooth nerve, regardless of your anatomy. I would suggest that your dentist needs to go on a course.

You'll be fine OP. I would pay the extra and go private tbh, because it's horrible enough at the best of times.
 
benneh said:
I would suggest that your dentist needs to go on a course.

You'll be fine OP. I would pay the extra and go private tbh, because it's horrible enough at the best of times.
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He was private - it cost me nearly £250 each for 6 teeth all done at different times over a 3 year period.
All together he did 6 root canals - 2 hurt and 4 didn't.
I now have Polish NHS Dentist and she's never hurt me - yet.
 
Thats the problem at the end of the day, 700 compared to 280...for the same treatment is it really worth paying so much extra for private when so many people on here seem to be saying that they havent had problems with NHS treatment, although my surgery is a private practice which provides NHS care.

Pains not as bad today, although the tooth has gone extra sensitive to touch or bite down on. Need this next week to fly by so can start the treatment. If I'm going through all this pain of toothaches etc now, I'm starting to think the root canal treatment will be nothing in comparison LOL I hope!
 
Yeah, as soon as my dentist told me I nearly fainted because the one that needs root canal work hurt really badly when they did the feeling, and like you say..the reputation they have made me think the worst.
 
Had some root canal work done on one of my upper front teeth recently. More uncomfortable than painful.

It was actually re-treating a tooth that I had root canal work done on about 10 years ago. Turns out that this type of tooth is meant to have only a single root canal, but mine has two. The first guy missed one of them, which is why the infection eventually came back. The (private) dentist actually did it for half price because of the novelty value. :D He and all the other dentists at the practice had only read of it in research papers and never seen it!
 
if the amoxycillin works properly and the infections gone then it probably wont hurt

just get plenty of anesthetic , its really weird feeling the tooth get warm as theyre drilling but then it not hurting though

saying this though. mine went wrong and got infected again a few weeks later... just got the tooth pulled that time which she said would be less hassle but actually turned out being a lot of hassle
 
"andy" said:
saying this though. mine went wrong and got infected again a few weeks later... just got the tooth pulled that time which she said would be less hassle but actually turned out being a lot of hassle
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Knee on your chest and big pair of pliers job? :D
 
Suppose its hard for me to say if its working properly, although since taking it i'm no longer getting an intense stabbing pain in my tooth, more of a slight throb as if its just usual toothache...so guess it is working
 
Hey, I had to have this done last year.. the pain that comes with the infection (i.e. before they drill/clean out the infection) is awful. However, the root canal itself is fine. They give you an injection in the gum but its barely a pinch (and this comes from someone who nearly faints from injections in the arm!) They just use tiny little drills to clean out the inside of the tooth and it's fine.... the tooth is essentially dead now, as is the nerve so theres nothing to cause pain. Youll be fiiiiiiine ;)
 
benneh said:
I was under the impression that the maximum permitted dose of Novocain (when used directly into the nerve/accurate deep root block) will numb any tooth nerve, regardless of your anatomy. I would suggest that your dentist needs to go on a course.
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Occasionally when a tooth is very inflammed the pulp (nerve) can become hyperaemic and regardless of what you try they are sometimes impossible to totally anaesthetise, at this point the root canal needs to be delayed. Other times, the tooth may have an accessory nerve supply which the standard injections will not anaesthetise.


The major difference between private/NHS dentistry is mainly the equipment that is used, and also the time that can be spent doing the treatment. On the NHS time is very limited, so it may not afford the Dentist long enough to explore and find all the nerves in the tooth (molars can have 3 or 4 sometimes). It is unfortunate that this is the case but that is down to the government introducing a pathetic system, however, its not to say that NHS root canal treatment doesn't work.

As for the poster asking who the experts were if Dentists weren't, some dentists do further training and specialise in a certain field - Endontists are the people who are experts in root canal. Dentists tend to refer patients with the more difficult complicated cases. A good comparison would be if you had a porsche that had brokendown; you could take it to a normal garage and they would most likely be able to fix the problem, but if you took it to a specialist porsche garage then they are more likely to do a better job.

Scouse [Dentist]
 
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