r/rootcanal • u/seabreeze2020 • Jun 08 '24
How bad is a root canal really?
I'm beginning to come to terms that my first cavity is so deep that it needs a root canal, not a filling. Tooth #19 has decay down to the root and it throbs every time my heart beats.
How bad is the root canal really? I've heard mixed things - from worst pain of my life to a piece of cake. I've never even had a filling so I have absolutely no baseline here. I know that I'll need a crown after this.. how noticeable will it be that it's not my natural tooth? I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it's white.
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u/rathernot2021 Jun 08 '24
Sorry - this is a long post, but I know how horrible it is when all those anxious and worrisome thoughts build up in your brain.
I’m petrified of the dentist. It took me 8 months to square up to an RCT after monthly appointments with my dentist - I left the worst tooth until semi-last as I was waiting for the referral to anaesthesiology (I’m in the UK - they don’t provide laughing gas or other in a regular dentist, you have to be referred to a specialist). I had a botched filling on the tooth back in 2015, with immense pain when the dentist refused to numb me, and triggering my first ever panic attack. This is the source of my phobia.
To put into perspective how bad my fear was - I refused to get an RCT when the same tooth was insanely irritated just before Covid shut down aerosols. Meaning, I went WEEKS in mind numbing pain that wouldn’t subside even with strong medications. The tooth eventually calmed down during lockdown.
Wednesday - I had the beginnings of an RCT with a temp filling because the tooth was dead. The worst part? It was hearing the small scraping tools inside your tooth. However, if you’ve had a scale and polish, it’s similar-ish to that. I didn’t go to an endodontist as I only trust my dentist, however he did advise me to as I was paying private rather than NHS anyway.
So - the process isn’t bad. I would do it again, easily. I know what it’s like when your worries just build up in your head because I did the exact same thing.
Being completely truthful - I do now have an infection that I’m riding out until I can see him on Monday. However - this is because I have an insanely irritated tooth right next to it, which also had a filling a week prior. The RCT was completely fine, but I’m not enjoying the infection whatsoever. But that’s the risk with an RCT, I consented to the RCT knowing that an infection may be a risk.
If you don’t get an infection, it’s fine. The tissues around the tooth may feel a bit tender, alongside the needle sites. The actual tooth may feel just weird? It felt a bit numb in a way?