I'm having my first root canal done on Monday. My tooth broke in half last week. I have to say, I'm a little bit scared. Anyone else every have one? Is there anything I can do to be relaxed before I go in? Can I take ibuprofen or an anxiety pill before I go in? I cried when he put the temporary cap on, I can't even think about the root canal. Anyone want to come and hold my hand?

It's a piece of cake but I hope an endodontist is doing it and not just a regular dentist. Endodontists do root canals all the time and know the best methods where as a general dentist doesn't specialize in them and while they know how to do it might not do them as proficiently as a specialist.

First thing, don't take anything that contains aspirin as that will thin the blood and there will be slight bleeding. I don't see a problem with taking ibuprofen but to be on the safe side ask.

Now what to expect. First he will take an x-ray of the area so they can see the root pulp and canals in the tooth. Then you'll receive a shot of lidocaine mixed with epinephrine. The area is usually numbed first with a topical ointment and a good endodontist can administer the shot without you feeling a thing. One thing to be aware of - the medication does have epinephrine(or an equivalent) which is to slow down the bleeding. If this gets into the blood stream (which it's not suppose to) you will suddenly have heart palpitations and slight tremors but it only lasts a second and the endodontist will know if he's gotten it into the blood and will prepare you. To be honest, that was the "worst" part of the procedure for me.

After you are numbed you will have a dental dam put into your mouth. It's basically a piece of latex that covers the inside of your mouth and prevents you from swallowing any of the icky stuff and also isolates the tooth to be worked on. Next the tooth will be drilled (feels no different than having a cavity filled) The endodontist will ask you if you feel anything and if you feel anything unpleasant he will numb the area more.

After the tooth is drilled he will use thin needle looking implements to scrape out the root. He'll probably refer to the x-rays a few times because it is possible that the tooth will have an anomolie such as additional canals or have 1 canal that spilts off into 2 and he will need to pull out all the roots. As he is doing this you'll have the suction tube in your mouth to catch all the debris. Remember, you never have to worry about swallowing water or any of the tooth drillings because you're protected by the dental dam.

After he has pulled out all the roots he will pack the canals in the tooth with an antiseptic packing and then fill the drilled hole with a temporary filling.

This is the end of step one
After the procedure you should have no pain other than an aching jaw from having to hold your mouth open so long and a bruise around the tooth that was worked on. The bruise is from the clamp that surrounded it when the dental dam was used.

Usually about 2 weeks later you will return and the endodontist will once again give you a shot to numb the area (this time he does not have to use epinephrine)and place the dental dam in your mouth. He will drill into the tooth again, pull out the antiseptic packing, scrape the canals once more, and then fill the canals with gutta-percha filling which has sort of a rubbery consistency and faint taste of cinamon. On top of the filling he'll probably use small cotton pellets and then fill once again with a temporary filling. He will send you to your dentist to have him do the crown.

All in all this should not be a traumatic experience for you but I can certainly understand your fears. I was a nervous wreck when I had one done last year but I realized I had worked myself up over nothing. After each visit I was able to go straight back to work. I was just a little sore but certainly didn't need any pain pills and didn't have any throbbing pain. I was just instructed to take ibuprofen for a few days afterwards.

If this hasn't helped to set your fears at rest you can always request that the endontist use some nitrous oxide on you. I've never used it but I did ask about it but when my endontist told me I'd feel "high" when using it I said "no thanks" and he agreed I would not be a good candidate because he could tell I was not one to "not be in control" lol

I think you will have no problems with this and when it is all done and over with please come back and tell us all about it

Thanks Georgia. I feel better now that you explained it. My dentist already did the x-rays and it is an endodontist doing it. I will call and ask what I should take beforehand. I also need to take antibiotics due to my mitral valve prolapse.

I'm still a baby when it comes to pain. Ed was making light of it, and was saying 'they're gonna get in and yank all your teeth out'. Wait until HE has to get one, I'm really going to torture him. All I need is a little sympathy, and I get nothin'!

There was a time I would rather have been worked on by a mortician than a dentist, mainly due to unhappy experiences when I was little. I think the dentist then had studied under Doc Holliday. Now the procedures, while not totally painless, have progressed enormously.

Root canals used to be extremely painful from what I understand. But now I compare them to just having a major cavity filled.

VV, if I lived near you I would gladly be there to hold your hand. It helps to have someone with you on that first visit. My mommie was there for me but had to leave so then my aunt showed up and was waiting in the waiting room for me. When I be-bopped out into the waiting room after that first visit she wondered if I had even had anything done! Best part of it all...she had a 2 pound bag of peanut M&Ms waiting for me. Can you say "poor planning"

Dentistry today is a piece of cake compared to what it was even 30 years ago. That's when mine were done. The pain was indescribable, and I couldn't even open my mouth for almost a week afterward. I couldn't eat anything solid, and I lost about 15 pounds. Making it worse was the fact that the dentist din't give me anything for pain after I left. I had to call his office and ask for a script. (OK, I admit it. I threatened to break his arms if I didn't get something to kill the pain.) Generally speaking, it is as Georgia says. Usually, the ache (not pain) after it's all over is the worst part. The description along with the anticipation are the really scary parts.

Had mine done yesterday, and I'm happy to say I came through it pretty easily. In fact, I think I ought to switch dentists, since it was much easier than having a cavity filled.

I was looking at the pamphlets and pictures of the root pulp, and I wondered something: why are there nerves in your tooth? I don't know if this should go in the philosophy or religion section. I mean, why would we need to feel pain in our teeth, knowing that they will wear away? Is the enamel on our teeth supposed to make the teeth stronger or less prone to wear?

I am so glad that you did not have a traumatic experience. See, told ya it wasn't bad After I had mine done I wondered what it would be like to have the nerves removed from all my teeth since it felt so good to have that one nerve removed. But of course we do need those nerves, as pesky as they can sometimes be. We need to be able to feel pain because that pain is a warning that something is wrong. If we didn't have pain then we could easily get abscesses from cavities and/or trauma to the tooth and that bacteria could get into the blood stream and cause damage to the heart as well as other vital organs. It's just like the sense of touch that we all have. If that was missing then we wouldn't feel pain and would go through life causing more and more damage to our bodies because we got hurt and didn't even realize it.

And yes, enamel makes the tooth stronger. It's the hardest substance in the body and because of this hardness we are able to chew, grind, and crush food. But enamel is prone to chipping as well as decay. When the bacteria found in plaque interacts with sugars found in foods it creates a by-product that is acidic and starts to demineralise the enamel. This is the beginning of a cavity which is usually painless. But we need the nerves to warn us when that cavity has progressed to a deep one that is damaging to the underlying elements of the tooth structure.