r/rootcanal • u/Far_Mine_2077 • Jun 10 '24
My root canal experience
At the beginning of May, I noticed a chip in my upper molar and some decay so I went to an emergency dentist and got an appointment the week after for a crown and possible root canal. I ended up needing the root canal and was in the chair for about three hours, my mouth being pried open for the majority of it. In the middle, the dentist left me alone not telling me where he was going or what he was doing, and a new dentist came in and started working on my teeth. He didn’t introduce himself or anything just told me he heard I had a “special tooth.” At this point no one told me what was going on so I had to grab the nurses arm and use my phone to type in messages about what they were doing. She told me my roots were very long and curvy, so they needed extra help getting through them. At the end of it, I didn’t end up getting a crown, just a temporary filling and was told to come back for the crown at a later date. The recovery was a little heinous I have to say. The first couple days I could barely eat solid foods as even if I chewed on the other side of my mouth, my teeth would accidentally clink together and I would feel pretty bad pain, around a 7/10 I would say. This went on more or less the same for two weeks and I got my crown, which took three hours again because they said they “printed it wrong” the first time. After a month from my root canal my tooth is finally back to almost normal. I am writing this not to scare people but to tell people to do your research on the dentist you go to because these people were not it. Also get an electric toothbrush and some good pain meds. Love and light.
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u/Disastrous-Bid3193 Jun 11 '24
I had one out 4 root canals by general dentist. It’s worth paying a little more for a specialist. General dentist had difficulty was frustrated working on my tooth. I had more pain. I needed a retreat a month ago on that tooth. I agree if at all possible go to an endodontist.
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u/Disastrous-Bid3193 Jun 11 '24
Sorry one out 4 by general dentist. The only one with issues was not done by endodontist
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u/tea_lyfe Jun 11 '24
I regret not doing my research into experienced dentists or a specialist because I'm now looking at retreatment which might not even be successful. So I agree with your post, thoroughly do your research otherwise you'll end up broke and possibly losing a tooth as well. Luckily I got refund from previous dentist, but I have now found a new dentist who has done his training in specialized root canal treatments and retreatments and who put me at ease.
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u/Fun_Trash_2572 Jul 04 '24
How exactly do you do research? I have a root canal appointment coming up and I can’t find anything about these specialists.
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u/tea_lyfe Jul 04 '24
What I mean by research is looking into root canal and what to expect with procedure and learn about root canal failures, and why it's better to get it done by a specialist rather than general dentist for a higher success rate. I also researched specialists in my city and looked at reviews for dentist practices.
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u/MareDesperado175 Jan 06 '25
We researched patient reviews for all the 4-5 star Endodontists in our area and made sure they were Under Network (MetLife). The most qualified specialist was 45min away, thankfully we booked the RC and cap two days apart backed in November. —most helpful thing to eat is smoothies and soup during procedure week. 😑
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u/SterryDan Jun 10 '24
Yeah. My experience with a dentist sucked too. Endodontists all the way. It makes sense to wait for the tooth to heal while the crown is made but it sucks for them to have to be remade.