Crap Root Canal?

[Scouse]

So a couple of years back I had a filling in a tooth I'd chipped at the back of my mouth. The dentist was a polish chap at a rapidly-constructed new dental centre in a poor area of Nottingham.

When he did the filling I thought he was taking an inordinately large amount of tooth away and worried afterwards as I knew if you go too deep you can end up killing the tooth.

Which he's done.

Queue toothache, for about a week now and no amount of brushing and washing is helping. So I went to the dentist, he's tested the tooth and given me three choices:

A) Root canal at some expensive private place, costs about £500 plus a crown on top (say another £250). Sounds like they just do a good job and it'll likely sort the problem and I'll keep my tooth.

B) Root canal done by him on the NHS. Costs about 50 quid plus the crown. Got a 70% chance of success but if fail, pull tooth.

C) Pull tooth.


I've gone for B. Though I'm thinking of ringing him up and saying "fuck it, it's my teeth, book me A instead, bitch"...

Questions: 1) Should I ring him back and spunk the money - it's my mouth after all.
2) Has anyone had root canal? Does it hurt much?
3) What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

And OW

 

[DaGaffer]

I've had two. Doesn't hurt more than a filling unless your dentist is a hack. Takes ages though. Its worth paying the extra, mainly for the quality of the crown you get done; mine were done with initial moulds taken from the tooth, which isn't always the case.

So,
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. European or African swallow?

 

[Gray]

Had one root canal done, i had heard of them in the past so wondered if one day i might get one...

Went to a new dentist than my usual, he was a demented old fucker. I thought it was going to be a general filling, until i almost shot out the fucking chair. The pain was unexpected (Again, he didn't warn me what he was about to do...) Right there my heart must have been pounding through my chest but he kept up. All the way through there was no "supportive" comments, just mere attacks on how i shouldn't have let it get so bad, my own fault, etc etc - Obviously wasn't paying much attention.

Longest 10-15minutes of my life. I managed to survive the ordeal though, and felt good in myself that even though it hurt like fuck, i completed it.

Oh he wasn't done though, he told me "Actually, it's only part done.. You have to come back next time to finish it off". I could have cried. In the end he broke me on the next time i went, just had it pulled out instead.

I quit that place right away, ended up in the hands of some fit Scottish bird instead at a new place. Happily ever after ever since.

(The root canal was such a weird pain, like he was stabbing me right in the nerve, which caused the pain.. As soon as he stopped doing it the pain would vanish immediately.. Rinse and repeat...)

 

[leggy]

NHS root treatment then a private crown. Saves you 450 quid.

The quality of the private root treatment might be better but the difference between the two is the time allocated for the treatment. An NHSer will get bout 350 seconds to sort you out

 

[throdgrain]

Pull the tooth out. You big girl!

 

[Ormorof]

had one done last year one one of dem big teeth at the back, took about ~4 visits as they cant do it all at once, doesnt hurt that much just annoying to have face numbed for hours afterwards and jaw hurts from sitting with mouth open for 2 hours

cost was only about €250 for me at private dentist but the KELA, the finnish social services, paid for €500 of it - because theres a nifty law that says if they cant do it within 6 months they have to pay you to go private

oddly enough i only noticed i needed it because the top of the tooth cracked cos of a huge cavity (i had no pain at all before the crack which is apparently not normal )

had two more fillings since then doesnt hurt at all as long as you get the local anaesthetic done properly

 

[old.Tohtori]

Questions: 1) Should I ring him back and spunk the money - it's my mouth after all.
2) Has anyone had root canal? Does it hurt much?
3) What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

And OW

I'll try my best to help you with this rather personal and often complicated matter;

It depends on whether you are talking about an African or European swallow.

The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour*, beating its wings 7-9 times per second (rather than 43). But please note that a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a one pound coconut.

*Based upon published species-wide averages of wing length and body mass, initial Strouhal estimates based on those averages and cross-species comparisons, the Lund wind tunnel study of birds flying at a range of speeds, and revised Strouhal numbers based on that study gives an estimate that the average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour.

 

[Scouse]

Ta for the advice.

Went back. Told him I'd rather have it done privately and get the job done by a specialist...

 

[gunner440]

Root canals are supposed to be the most painful procedures around. That's what I was told at least before I had mine and I barely felt a thing. Mind you maybe I lucked out with a good dentist (private by the way) but I don't recall any pain or suffering during or after the procedure which didn't last that long either... an hour and a bit maybe?

 

[Zarjazz]

I've had two major dental procedures and both were done privately and frankly worth every penny. First was to get 4 impacting wisdom teeth removed in one go. I had it done on a Saturday and I was back to work on the Monday it went that well.

Root canals are supposed to be the most painful procedures around

Well my other procedure was for a serious gum infection - supposedly I suffer from saliva with a high calcium content (I never knew that was even a condition) which makes me predisposed to tartar and the like. This basically involved slicing along my gum lines with a scalpel, pulling back my gums to expose the roots of all my teeth. Then the dentist basically took a glorified chisel and chipped and hammered away hard all the solidified gunk. All performed without a local anaesthetic, just some Novocaine. I laugh at your root canal pain!

 

[Lamp]

Just use your grandfather's dentures he left for you which you still have in a box in the loft and forgot about till now. Might need a quick rinse under the tap and you're good to go.

(Reminds me - need to see dentist myself. Probably need another 4 fillings. Ho hum)

 

[Moriath]

Its a well known scam that they try and get you to pay for expensive treatment out of the NHS because they really dont want you to do the NHS option because they dont make much money on it.

I think there would be the same success rate on either option of the root canal stuff. Or try a different dentist that isnt trying to scam you

 

[Raven]

1 filling in 33 years, though that fell out last year and I haven't bothered getting it fixed again. Had my wisdom teeth out under general anesthetic though.

 

[russell]

totally depends on how good the dentist is ...having said that I have had 2 root canals done by my usual dentist who does NHS and private work. No pain as numb from injections...little ache after...same as a deep filing or an extraction. Worst pain ever was when my tooth split down to the nerve as i bit into a ritz cracker. Man I was crawling the walls with pain...saw crap dentist who didnt help ... couldnt eat or talk..breathing in could set off the sizzling nerve pain..2 weeks of sheer agony got me my current good dentist who I will NEVER leave!

 

[Tom]

I had it last week, on a tooth that decided to self-destruct. It's slightly painful, but not because they're drilling and doing stuff on the tooth. For me, the pain was the extraordinary degree to which they forced my mouth open to reach said tooth. The skin below my nose felt like it was being prepared for a Hellraiser film.

Even the needle didn't really hurt, since she used numbing gel around the gums beforehand.

I'll stick with private (about £450 for 2 visits), since the last NHS dentist I visited used a bolster chisel and mallet.

 

[Raven]

Grim'tup'north

 

[Embattle]

Not had one myself, although unless done really well I've heard it is generally a waste of money. Anything I've had done teeth wise only tends to ache a bit due to my mouth being forced open so wide for a while but then having had multiple endoscopies and colonoscopies I guess pain is a relative sort of thing.