Root canal questions...?

Question

I need to have a root canal done and my dentist explained the procedure to me as drilling out my tooth and hooking onto my nerve, pulling it up, cutting it off and then filling my tooth temporarily, coming back at a later date and having a real filling put it.

My husband said when he had a root canal done they never hooked onto a nerve and pulled it up and cut it off but they did drill out his tooth and used a laser to get the nerve, then they filled it and he went back a couple of weeks later and they filled it again?

I am wondering if there are these two different ways to do a root canal - if so, is one way less painful than the other (or quicker)? and why do you need to have a temporary filling and then at a later date a permanent one.

I really hate going to the dentist and I can't believe I have to have a root canal done - my tooth doesn't even hurt!

thanks for any advice/help/information

Answer 1

I had 2 root canals done a month ago. It is not painful at all. The dentist didn't use lasers.

Answer 2

I believe what your dentist was trying to explain to you as "hooking onto your nerve and pulling it up and cutting it off" was not a great way to explain what he really does.  He drills your tooth to expose the nerves, then he uses several different size and length files and uses them to file out your nerves.  Then he puts a temporary filling on your tooth. The temp is used because he wants you to come back for a permanent crown or filling. Most root canals are followed by a crown. But sometimes fillings will do.  They recommend crowns because they are much stronger than a filling. Since your dentist has had to drill out a large portion of your tooth, the crowns are more likely to prevent further damage or decay down the road.

What your husband had done with a laser is really just a fancy device that enables the dentist to get a much better gauge on how deep and how much of your nerves he has to get out of your tooth.  In my experience as a dental assistant, dentists that use the lasers (depth finder?) usually are able to finish up a root canal in one visit rather than two because it takes much less time.  As far as less painful, I really dont know how one would be less than the other.  

But I can tell you that root canals are much less painful than most people think.  The biggest complaints I ever got as a dental assistant is that their jaws would get sore from having to stay open so long.  

I hope I was helpful with your questions. Dont be afraid.

Answer 3

Some dentists do it differently.  I had two root canals done different ways and both were PAINLESS.  I dont know what the big fuss over root canals are.  Yes they are time consuming and rather have to get a cavity filled than a root canal but you wont feel any pain.  As far as the procedure goes....they take out the dead nerve from your tooth.  Sometimes with lazer and pulling it out.  Either way is just the preference of the dentist and you wouldnt be able to tell the difference anyways.  Just be prepared to sit in a dentist chair for 2 hours.  Bring your ipod, you will be bored.

Answer 4

I'm sure there are many ways nowadays, but the way your dentist is doing it is the most common way of doing it.

First we get you numbed up nice and good. If it hurts, raise your hand and we'll numb you up more.

Second we remove all the decay present.

Third we remove tooth structure to locate the canal o*****e and to able to clean out the canals.  This action of removing tooth structure can make your tooth weak.

Fourth after locating all the canals, we will use a broach to remove the nerve.  A broach is a file with little barbs on it that can hook onto the nerve.  It sounds scarey but if you actually see the file the dentist uses, it's very anticlimactic.  We take measurements of the length of the canal(s) of the tooth by using files with rubber stoppers on them.  This way we know where to stop or how far to go when we're shaping the canals.

4A.  This is at the discretion of the dentist.  At this stage medicative dressing is placed over the canal o*****e followed with a temporary filling.  Don't eat with this tooth.  You'll be sorry if you do.  Just imagine that tooth as a delicate egg shell filled with Play-Doh.  We send you home with a prescription and you come back a week later.

5.  We want to shape the canals to resemble a long cone.  We use the thin file and each subsequent file gets bigger by .02 mm.  After each file we irrigate out the canal because dust/debris can get shoved down into the apex.  This helps minimize the debris

6.  After the canal is shaped, we dry it and try in a master shaped cone to see how it fits in the newly shaped cone shaped canal.  An xray is taken to determine the adequate or inadequate fill with the master cone.

7.  If everything is satisfactory we use cement with the master cone to fill up the canal.  If it's not to our liking, we will continue to reshape the canal with previous files and try again with the master cone.  Sometimes additional cones are needed with the master cone to give the canal a very solid fill.

8.  We then use a heated (HOT HOT HOT) instrument to cut off any excess cone fillers and sear the canal o*****e.  Next we place a temporary filling.

9.  Administering antibiotics and painkillers.  Sometimes it's possible to get an infection (or sometimes you have an infection first, then you got the root canal treatment done, however some of the infection is still hanging around) after a root canal treatment.  Antibiotics are the answer here.  Painkillers because the surrounding tissue of the tooth may be sensitive.

10.  After a week or two, come back for a post (possibly) placed in your tooth and a crown prep for the crown that will sit on that tooth.

Depending on the tooth it may take 2 visits.  Maybe 3.  Finding the canals is the hardest part of the job.

Answer 5

if u dont trust ur dentist's opinion, dont go further with him and roort canal has lot of forms, one visit, 2-visits and 3-visits, depending on whether the pulp (tooth nerve) is infected or not,

- infected pulp takes more time till the root is ready for filling

- its not necessary that a tooth hurts to make root canal, mat be ur tooth pulp is dead over a long period of time

- several visits to the dental office is better than loosing a tooth from ur mouth, replacing such a tooth is so expensive and its artificial anyway

Answer 6

Yes, the previous person gave a good explanation of the procedure.  

You will be anesthetized, so it shouldn't hurt while they are doing it.  After you are numbed up, the dentist makes a small hole in the top of the tooth to get access to the nerves, uses small files that look like little toothpicks, to remove the nerve tissue, cleans out the canals, then refills them with what's called gutta percha.  This is so the canals aren't left "hollow" and don't get reinfected.

After the root canal is done, normally a temporary filling is placed for a variety of reasons.

If you are seeing an endodontist, they specialize in doing root canals and don't do the final restorations in teeth.  Your general dentist will need to do this, so a temporary is placed until you can see your general dentist.

Root canals take a long time sometimes (like the previous person said), and crown appointments do as well, so most people can't sit for *that* long in a dental chair anyways.

Often times dentist like to make sure the root canal tooth is asymptomatic (no symptoms, pain, etc) before proceeding and doing the crown or final restoration.

After the root canal is done, be sure to avoid chewing on the tooth until the final restoration is placed.  Teeth that have had root canals are much more brittle and tend to fracture much more often until they are completely restored.

After restored, it should function just like any other tooth.

Main point is you will be anesthetized during the procedure so it shouldn't hurt, and most people don't have any adverse issues afterwards.

There are some pictures included in the link below...