[email protected] writes:
>
>> Kinda shows it depends on the individual, the dental professional, the
>> tooth, and the circumstances surrounding that particular tooth. Ya
>think?
>>
>> Glenna
>
>
>Then his dentist was either incompetent, or your husband was just acting
>macho when the dentist asked him if he was numb yet and said yes when he
>really wasn't because root canals, although lengthy procedures, do not
>normally hurt and it is always better than losing the tooth. I have had 5
>of the damn things and 4 caps by 3 different dentists and although I never
>looked forward to any of them, they were no more painful than any other
>procedure. Now maybe your husband is different but he would be the
>exception rather than the rule so exactly what is the point of you trying
>to
>scare the hell out of the person trying to make an important decision or
>do
>you just like to argue?
I repeat:
>> Kinda shows it depends on the individual, the dental professional, the
>> tooth, and the circumstances surrounding that particular tooth. Ya
>think?
Now, in regard to your insults to my husband and perhaps to me as well, as
I said, it does depend. As an example, I had major surgery from which I
had *no* pain the day after surgery (and never a problem to this day 23
years later), I repeat, "no pain." (Can you say you've had a 2-hour
invasive abdominal surgery and not had pain from it?) A dear friend of
mine went through months of hell from exactly the same type of surgery,
even to the point of having to have her incision held open to heal from
the inside of her abdomen. I'd never heard of such a thing happening with
that surgery, but it happened to her.
Personally, I think it's a rotten thing to tell someone any surgery will
not hurt, and that includes a root canal. It does truly depend on the
person. There's a big difference in relaying your own experience and
telling someone it won't hurt. You cannot know what will or will not hurt
for another person, or even what their particular situation is (unless
they relate it to you in detail!).
You can call my thoughts, based on fact, arguing if you like. Frankly, I
don't care.
Another little tidbit, I personally think all of those who complain of
toothaches might just be sissies. I've never had a toothache in my life
in spite of an inherited tooth enamel problem. Same dentist who fixed my
husband's tooth wanted to do a root canal on one of mine. He told me,
"The nerve is exposed, and the tooth needs to be capped to prevent
toothaches." I refused, told him there are no nerves in my teeth. He
showed me x-rays and identified the nerves. (???!) Full of it, he was.
Thirty years later, still no toothache!
Teeth should always be saved, if at all possible. However, the procedures
to do so are not always pleasant. Fact of life that is.
Glenna
I don't want to scare anyone but my only attempt at a root canal was
disastrous. I had it done and then a couple days later it started to
hurt. Then it really hurt. Then it HURT LIKE HELL. Went back to the
dentist and he couldn't see any infection or any other reason for it to
hurt. Finally he decided it waould have to be extracted. After THREE
loads of novacaine the pain was as bad as ever. In the end I had to be
given a general anesthetic. One day I'd much rather forget!
FobbyTown
Bang! "Awww, shit!" (Another day in Paradise.)
Allow me to put 2 cents in here... I am a general
dentist/woodworker...I do root canals. Your discussions are all valid,
to a degree, but I think you've failed to "hit the nail on the head".
What differentiates the different scenarios has something to do with
the person and their resistance to infection... it has something to do
with the tooth and how many canals and how easy or difficult they are
to thoroughly clean and it has MOSTLY to do with the bacteria that are
causing the painful infection. While there are some scenarios that are
difficult to explain, the great majority of cases (statistically in the
high 90 percents) are straight forward, with zero or only minor painful
episodes AFTER the infection is under control.
The longer the person endures their discomfort/pain before initiating
treatment, the more difficult it is for anesthetic to completely numb
the tooth. We refer to that as the 'hot tooth' syndrome... for no
known reason, everything can seem thoroughly numb, but when the
treatment is started, there is still intense pain... more anesthetic
than usual is required and/or it takes a long time to "soak" in and
take effect. Again, over 95% of the treatments are painless from
beginning to end... with this exception... and the patient almost
always plays a role in creating the exception, although it is the
bacterial infection that is to blame.
In addition, the longer someone waits for treatment, the more the
bacteria establish the tooth and the surrounding bone as their
'home'... so the treatment of the tooth and its infected nerve is
sometimes not enough and antibiotics are needed... and the longer the
infection sat festering (sometimes painlessly) the stronger the
infection when it finally causes enough pain to go to the dentist. We
don't exactly know why an infection can sit quietly for a long time and
then suddenly flare up like gangbusters, but it often relates either to
the type of bacteria and/or a decrease in the person's ability to fight
off the bacteria. (So being overworked, or not getting enough sleep,
or being very emotionally stressed, or fighting off another infection
like a cold or flu or whatever, seems to allow a small or quiet
infection to snowball.) Again, it is the bacteria that are to blame
and they are not all alike... since antibiotics are not usually needed,
no antibiotics are prescribed... and the result after the initial root
canal visit usually is 1-3 days of discomfort (not pain) that subsides
to nothing. The exception is treated with antibiotics, but again,
there are differences... the tried and true antibiotic of choice is
penicillin for dental infections - and it is effective, again in the
90% range... but if/when penicillin doesnt' seem to be effective, which
is sometimes related to how long the bacteria have been active, etc.,
the more chance there is that a newer/stronger/significantly more
expensive antibiotic will be needed. During that time, when the right
antibiotic is determined and it actually starts working, the patient is
often in pain... but the culprit is not the person, the tooth, the
"root canal treatment" or the dentist, but the bacteria and the
infection they produce.
Another variation on the theme is that bacterial infections that aren't
overly aggressive may create pus that finds its way out through an
opening in the gums... in other words, it ends up leaking pus into the
mouth through the equivalent of a pimple. Because of this, the person
may notice a bad taste but doesn't usually suffer much pain. Other
infections create pus rapidly and, if they have no quick way out, the
pus can leak into parts of the face and you can wake up with part of
your face swollen. Often, these infections were known about for weeks
or even months as discomfort came and went, but there was never much
pain until one day when it all changed... again, the pain and swelling,
etc. is from the infection, not the treatment. And often the person
suffers extreme pain if the pus builds up very rapidly and has no place
to go (yet)... the pressure buildup causes the pain... and sometimes
the bacteria create gases which increase the pain/pressure... until the
pus finds someplace to let out... which is rarely like a small pimple
in these cases... and the face gets quite swollen... and as the
swelling makes them look worse, the pain lessens because there is less
pressure in a confined space. Again, the villain is the bacteria, not
the treatment... and if getting numb is not simple, it is not the
dentist who is to blame, it is consequence of severe infection.
Bottom line is still: save the tooth if it can be saved... root canal
treatment is the method used to save the tooth... over 95% of the cases
are straightforward and close to painless... and prevention or early
treatment usually pays off with fewer complications.
It is my belief that the painless (or nearly painless) root canal
treatments cause no comments... but the rare painful cases cause the
story to be repeated over and over so that the reputation of root canal
treatment is that it is a painful procedure... but it just ain't so.
I think this was a pretty complete general consultation on the issue
and I said all I have to say... so I reserve the right to not hold
online consultations about individual situations... if you post
questions or email me, I may or may not reply. I hope you understand.
sawtooth wrote:
> online consultations about individual situations... if you post
> questions or email me, I may or may not reply. I hope you understand.
Well, I've got this tooth, see... It's got a root in it, and if I put the
end of a propane torch on the end of it, I feel a burning sensation. Is
this normal? Do I need a root canal? :)
Thanks for the lucid, well-composed, professional perspective on this issue.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> sawtooth wrote:
>
> > online consultations about individual situations... if you post
> > questions or email me, I may or may not reply. I hope you understand.
>
> Well, I've got this tooth, see... It's got a root in it, and if I put the
> end of a propane torch on the end of it, I feel a burning sensation. Is
> this normal? Do I need a root canal? :)
Nah, you are just a wimp :-)
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
Ah, a I thought, you do just like to argue. At one time you would have
found the right mark but anymore, it is simply not worth the trouble.
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
"Glenna Rose" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] writes:
> >
> >> Kinda shows it depends on the individual, the dental professional, the
> >> tooth, and the circumstances surrounding that particular tooth. Ya
> >think?
> >>
> >> Glenna
> >
> >
> >Then his dentist was either incompetent, or your husband was just acting
> >macho when the dentist asked him if he was numb yet and said yes when he
> >really wasn't because root canals, although lengthy procedures, do not
> >normally hurt and it is always better than losing the tooth. I have had
5
> >of the damn things and 4 caps by 3 different dentists and although I
never
> >looked forward to any of them, they were no more painful than any other
> >procedure. Now maybe your husband is different but he would be the
> >exception rather than the rule so exactly what is the point of you trying
> >to
> >scare the hell out of the person trying to make an important decision or
> >do
> >you just like to argue?
>
> I repeat:
>
> >> Kinda shows it depends on the individual, the dental professional, the
> >> tooth, and the circumstances surrounding that particular tooth. Ya
> >think?
>
> Now, in regard to your insults to my husband and perhaps to me as well, as
> I said, it does depend. As an example, I had major surgery from which I
> had *no* pain the day after surgery (and never a problem to this day 23
> years later), I repeat, "no pain." (Can you say you've had a 2-hour
> invasive abdominal surgery and not had pain from it?) A dear friend of
> mine went through months of hell from exactly the same type of surgery,
> even to the point of having to have her incision held open to heal from
> the inside of her abdomen. I'd never heard of such a thing happening with
> that surgery, but it happened to her.
>
> Personally, I think it's a rotten thing to tell someone any surgery will
> not hurt, and that includes a root canal. It does truly depend on the
> person. There's a big difference in relaying your own experience and
> telling someone it won't hurt. You cannot know what will or will not hurt
> for another person, or even what their particular situation is (unless
> they relate it to you in detail!).
>
> You can call my thoughts, based on fact, arguing if you like. Frankly, I
> don't care.
>
> Another little tidbit, I personally think all of those who complain of
> toothaches might just be sissies. I've never had a toothache in my life
> in spite of an inherited tooth enamel problem. Same dentist who fixed my
> husband's tooth wanted to do a root canal on one of mine. He told me,
> "The nerve is exposed, and the tooth needs to be capped to prevent
> toothaches." I refused, told him there are no nerves in my teeth. He
> showed me x-rays and identified the nerves. (???!) Full of it, he was.
> Thirty years later, still no toothache!
>
> Teeth should always be saved, if at all possible. However, the procedures
> to do so are not always pleasant. Fact of life that is.
>
> Glenna
>
On Friday 28 Jan 2005 3:20 am, Glenna Rose scribbled:
> Personally, I think it's a rotten thing to tell someone any surgery
> will
> not hurt, and that includes a root canal. It does truly depend on the
> person. There's a big difference in relaying your own experience and
> telling someone it won't hurt. You cannot know what will or will not
> hurt for another person, or even what their particular situation is
> (unless they relate it to you in detail!).
I beg to differ. It does not depend on the person. It depends on the
tooth. I've had a number of root canals, some in relation to an
automobile accident. Some of them hurt, some didn't. :-)
The first two were to replace fillings which had fallen out. The root
canals happened when I was about 17 or so. The fillings had fallen out
because, being a boy, I got an irresistible urge to chew gum after
coming out of the dentist's office.
--
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html