anyone here ever had a tooth pulled?

[janetg]

i'm freaking out - i've had trouble with back molar, top right for 2 weeks now. had a root canal done thursday - it felt good when the numb wore off. all last night.

that is till this morning. and now this evening. and it's hurting. and i'm scared! the thought of missing a tooth is just extremely frightening to me.

they actually put me to sleep for the root canal with 3 sleeping pills and nitrous - i don't think they'll do that if they have to pull it - and really - i'm almost in tears thinking about this. and i'm actually embarassed...which i find really strange, i mean, not embarrased about being a chicken, but embarassed that i may be missing a tooth if this doesn't get better like really quick. is that weird?

janetg

[Roy]

I've had one pulled and another one with a root canal plus some wisdom teeth cut out. One good thing about extraction is it doesn't take as long. I'm not a dentist but I would think they have some procedure to replace that tooth. Maybe a tooth implant? I never had any pain from the root canal. I don't understand what's going on with that. Did you try to call your dentist?

[LDB]

Well, first, nobody is going to know if you have your rear molar or not other than your dentist. They'll likely offer the option of an implant there and once it's in it will be indistinguishable from a natural tooth. Your teeth aren't you and aren't who you are. If it were an incisor it would be more understandable since it would be readily apparent until replaced. In this case I'd say you need a good adviser to help you get over worrying about a back tooth to go along with the good dentist.

[janetg]

thanks guys - i've thought about an implant - but my friend had one done - it was 3k - and 2 months in the process. i'm not good with dentists. i go every 6 months like clockwork, because i am so paranoid about having to have something done. i've had one other root canal - and no pain after that one either. this is why it's bugging me. i do clench my teeth something fierce when i'm sleeping - they thought at first it was bruised...

i did call today, but got no answer and didn't push it...thinking it would get better. i'm definitely going to have to call in the morning. the pain pills make me sick now - instead of kicking the pain, i just get nauseated.

[AndrewCCM]

I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at the same time. Drugs were good... but I bled a lot for days... All in all it wasn't terrible.

[janetg]

yah - i did too...about 30 some odd years ago - and was totally asleep. see, that's my fear - that i won't be. and i'll hear it. i need someone out here to tell me it doesn't hurt...and you don't hear it.

i did do some reading on pain after root canal and they said it's not unheard of...the more pain you had before-hand, the more after. and technically, there was nothing wrong with the tooth - they thought there was an abcess UNDER the tooth...since all the xrays looked entirely normal of the tooth and the roots.

ugh!!

[CaptainTom]

I've had more dental work done than most hockey teams.
I found a dentist who knows that if he hurts me, I'll hurt him. I'm a woose (chicken) when it comes to pain, and dental work is my least favorite thing.
Let the dentist know you are scared. Make him aware that you do not want to have a bad experience.
They can give you goofy pills or nitrous or both. I'd prefer to be out even when they clean my teeth, but that isn't going to happen.....
Be firm with the dentist. If he/she doesn't play along with you, look elsewhere. Painless dentistry is pretty common.

[jerrykr]

Tom is right, and also, I've noticed from my years in a dentist chair, that tooth pain seems to be part of the healing process after something so evasive as a root canal. Don't get in a hurry, give it 2 or 3 days. You just may be surprised that the pain goes away somewhat rapidly if you just give your body time to heal. I'd ask about a crown a LONG time before I'd consider an extraction.

I'm not a dentist, just a victim of my family tooth gene pool, so get professional advice and don't listen to me.

[Breezy]

I had 4 molars pulled when I was a teen, as my mouth strike that Jaw is very narrow and no room for the teeth to go. I was getting braces and they had to make room. It was a HORRIFING experience. He broke all 4 of them trying to get tem out.
When it came time to have my wisdom teeth pulled no room for them either as they were coming in under other teeth. I told them they had to put me to sleep or they weren't coming out. Perfect experience, I was eating all kinds of foods when all was said and done just a few short hours later lol. The worst part was when the stitches came undone, Had to cut those suckers out.
We had to pay extra for me to be knocked out but it wasn't but like 350 bucks, well worth it in my opinion.
Good luck hope you get to feeling better soon.

[Cope]

I have had teeth pulled, the most recent was 18 months ago. I also had an implant in 1994. The implant was almost painless, the procedure took 2 hours, and 5 months later the surgeon put a healing post in the implant. Then several months later my dentist installed the crown on the implant. Total cost was 1/2 the current rate, but I understand the process is streamlined now.

Everyone tolerates dental work differently, and every dentist/surgeon is not the same. My current dentist can give an injection without me even feeling the needle.

[CaptainTom]

If you have tooth pain, or post dentist tooth pain you need to get some pain killing drugs.
No need to be in pain. It is accepted that the body heals quicker when it is pain free.

[LDB]

Implants are no big deal. While eating lunch one day my second incisor broke off near the gumline. It was too close for a crown to be feasible. I didn't have an extraction first so I don't know what effect that will have. The implant itself was one visit to prep the area and put the post in place. A temporary crown was attached to that while the permanent was made. After a couple of weeks to allow the post to fully set, I went in and the permanent was attached. The total process took less than a month.

[gardener]

Unless you've had some pretty serious work done on that tooth before now, the only work commonly done after a root canal is putting a crown on it to protect what's left of the tooth. I'm like several others in that I've spent more than a fair amount of time in the dentist's chair over my 61 years and other than one moron years and years ago, I've never had a dentist that would pull a tooth before trying several methods to save it, some fairly expensive and some quite reasonable.
Opinion? Your dentist will wait for the tooth area and possible absess to heal and then add a crown that matches what was there before. Not a comfortable procedure simply because they make impressions and such but no pain that an Advil won't handle.
Remember too that once the root canal is done, the tooth no longer has any nerve to make it hurt so work on that tooth is relatively painless (other than the fact that the dentist has both hands, a foot, and various other appliances in your mouth at the same time that make your jaw muscles hurt from staying open so long).

Don't worry. You've already had the worse of the procedure and the rest will be a piece of cake. Dentists no longer pull teeth just because that's the only option....

[janetg]

well, i called the dentist this morning, and explained what was going on. he made me feel better about things - explained that metallic-medicine taste was from the temp filling - so i'm one of those rare individuals that can't take that particular filling material, so he'll replace it asap monday morning.

he also said my bite was probably off due to the filling and i'm continuing to hit on it (and clench) so they will make that adjustment as well.

so there's hope for this tooth...

ay yi yi!

[Jeff_Green]

Did he give you Amoxicillin? I find that has helped in pain and healing than painkillers.