Comments on: Abscessed Tooth?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:07:31 +0000

Hi! I’ve been in dentistry for over 25 years and the answer is save the tooth. A root canal now is a cake walk and loosing a tooth is nightmare unless you do an implant. Your teeth will shift, the tooth above will drop and after time a bridge will cost you more. So do this.
Ask the dentist if the cost of root canal and crown are worth it or should you do an extraction and implant. It balances out to the same monies. And the implant will last you 200 years or until a nuclear attack. I make my patients do the implant because root canaled teeth typically fail after 10 years and why spend 2500. now when an implant and crown are the same. My only exception is front teeth. So have a heart to heart with your dentist and have him explain both options and in the long run what is best for you. I have no desire to do a RCT and Post and core and crown to yank out the tooth in 5 years to do an implant. I have 11 implants myself because most root canals do fail and the root structure is compromise. Why waste the time and monies now. As far as pain, a root canal is simple. An extraction is only sore for 1-2 days at best. There is no reason to make a decision based on that. Just what is best in the long run. Pain meds will stop it either way. M

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:12:34 +0000

They probably will wait till your absess is completely gone.Before they do anything.And if your on antibiotics for like 10 days.Get some “Dannons’ ” yogurt to keep from getting a yeast infection. Dannons is the best for active culture. Good luck!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:57:12 +0000

I can’t say for sure until tomorrow morning when I get the molar pulled that I had TWO root canals on. I have spent nearly $1,000.00 on that LOUSY tooth for those 2 procedures and nearly paid another $750.00 for a crown (Thank God I didn’t because now it’s bad) all for what? So it can get pulled. Sweet. The only tooth I’ve had a root canal on so…I can’t say I recommend it. Also, I have good teeth so, it isn’t that. Just get it pulled, CAN’T be as bad as the aftermath of a root canal.
EDIT: I went, they didn’t pull it. I’m going to a periodontist for tests to see if it’s cracked below the gumline. The infection spread into my jaw. Still can’t really answer your question!! Sorry and good luck!

By: Dee

Dee — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:52:55 +0000

I say root canal, if you don’t want big gaps so your teeth can move around and become crooked. And remember an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

By: kiki

kiki — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:57:03 +0000

Well with the extraction, once it heals, that’s it. The root canal is a bit more of a process, and it is more painful. There may not even be a choice, it might just have to come out no matter what. Depends on the decay. The dentist will probably x-ray it to see how badly decayed it is, then discuss the course of action with you. If it’s pulled, you’ll get novecaine and maybe sweet air and then pull it out and give you some pain pills and more antibiotics. Good luck, been there many times.

By: Laura Z

Laura Z — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:13:17 +0000

Have the extraction. You will be glad in the long run. It will only hurt for awhile. Then you will feel soooo much better.

By: Heather T

Heather T — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:49:13 +0000

Hi Your Mom is right. Been there, done that. Root canals are no fun and you have to go to the dentist several times before the procedure is finished. Good Luck.

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:01:42 +0000

The dentist will give you novacane which will numb the tooth so you won’t really feel pain during either procedure.
If you have a root canal the dentist will put this device in your mouth to keep your mouth open, uncomfortable but not painful. The first few novacane shots do hurt but they are a quick poke and once it starts working you won’t feel the rest of them. Close your eyes, don’t look at the needle as he is coming toward you with it, you don’t want to know what it looks like. After you are numbed up you might feel some pressure but not pain.
If you have the tooth extracted you will have similar novacane shots but probably not the device to keep your mouth open. Again keep your eyes closed you don’t want to see the instruments he uses to pull the tooth. You will feel quite a bit of pressure depending on where the tooth is. Back teeth have a pretty long root. The extraction can be uncomfortable. The dentist will rock the tooth back and forth before he starts pulling. The do have to pull pretty hard and the tooth might break into pieces. Any pain you feel from the extraction will be after the novacane wears off. If he offers you a prescription for pains meds take it. It can get pretty painful after the novacane wears off. There will be a lot of bleeding after the extraction. You will need to keep gauze clamped down on the extraction site for several hours. Gets a bit yucky.
Good Luck, I hope it goes easy for you which ever procedure you have.

By: Robert C

Robert C — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:36:24 +0000

Neither hurts that much… nothing like the pain of an abscess. Root canal just takes longer and they are messing around in your mouth a long time. The antibiotics will not help the pain much, but you need them. You want to keep as many teeth as you can as you will need them when you are older to support (bridge) those that will be pulled.
BTW, when they doing the root canal, the second they drill far enough through the tooth into the root canal, you will have “instant” relief. As the abscess has built up pressure and it is releaved. I would much rather have a root canal anyday.
It is all about “fear.” Those that fear the procedure thinks it hurts worse, but someone like me that has had a lot of dental procedures over the years can tell you without a doubt a root canal is less “painful” but it does take a long time and every new instrument they put in your mouth you think it is going to hurt… just don’t hesistate to ask for more shots if it hurts in the least.
I will tell you that root canals are a lot less pain today than it was ten years ago. Not much difference between filling a cavity, just longer.
Also, by the next day your mouth will be feeling almost perfect and by the second day, like normal… not so with an extraction.

By: Christin

Christin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:51:11 +0000

If the crown of the tooth is mostly intact, they will do a root canal to stop the pain. The tooth will still be there, but the nerve endings will have been removed, and the space they were in will be filled with a plastic-like filling.
If it is a baby tooth, or if the crown is mostly decayed or damaged, they will probably extract it (definitely if it is a baby tooth).
Neither procedure hurts during it, but both hurt afterwards. I would think a root canal would hurt less (though I’ve never had one) because the nerves would be taken out.