Just wondering if you have any stories about nasty experiences with your teeth, to help re-assure me when I go for my root canal treatment tomorrow!

I've had root canal before, and in the end I had to have an emergency extraction due to serious infection. My dentist was really mean, and offered no reassurance when I started crying before the procedure. He started to extract my back tooth even before the injection had kicked in, and then he also removed my wisdom tooth. He packed my mouth full of gauze and sent me on my way. I walked across London Road to catch the bus home, but ended up fainting outside the Cremorne Pub and cracked my head on the bus shelter! To add insult to injury, I was wearing my brand new wool coat, and I landed in a muddy puddle! So I had a deathly white face, mascara streaks, bloody saliva dripping down my chin and mud in my hair..... not a good look!

I now have a new dentist, who is really nice and reassuring, and he's promised me he'll be gentle! I also have a lift home arranged, just in case!

The orthodontist once set fire to my beard when re-setting my brace, that was pretty scary at the time.

Wilf

Have had 10 root cav fillings- gone swimmingly each time- i even fell asleep during one of them! :hihi:

I had ingrowing teeth as a child and after being put out by gas I woke up in a room on my own, on my back, with a mouth full of blood

And they wonder why people don't like going to the dentist!

Think I might take my MP3 with me and listen to some tunes to take my mind of the drilling and scraping!

Originally posted by GoGo_dancer
And they wonder why people don't like going to the dentist!

Think I might take my MP3 with me and listen to some tunes to take my mind of the drilling and scraping!

I doubt if they would let you but thats a top idea?

Originally posted by BrainThrust
The orthodontist once set fire to my beard when re-setting my brace

:confused:

I'm unsure how this would physically be possible.

Was the Dentist playing with matches at the time?

Or did a combination of chemicals cause an explosion?

In between my nasty dentist and my nice dentist, I went for a private consultation at Flint & Flint on Abbey Lane, and they had a little flat screen TV on the ceiling with little fish on it..... Suppose you get what you pay for!

Originally posted by Abdul
:confused:

I'm unsure how this would physically be possible.

Was the Dentist playing with matches at the time?

Or did a combination of chemicals cause an explosion?

He was putting the brace wire into my mouth. Brace wire is now made out of memory metal (meaning if you bend it, it returns to the original shape) The only way to re-set it into a new shape is to heat it up, when it's been heated up, it is very loose and bends under it's own weight.

Anyway, half the wire was in my mouth and affixed to my brace and the other half was being put in when it cooled down enough to set. The wire was sticking out of my mouth still and so the dentist, unsure of what to do, pulled out a lighter from his pocket and began to heat it up again.

As he put the lighter back in his pocket, the metal bent under it's own weight onto my beard and set it burning slightly before the dentist turned back and put it in my mouth, the smell of burnt hair in my nostrils.

I laugh at it now but at the time I was freaked out.

Wilf

i had to have a lot of dental work done at the end of last year and the beggining of this year firstly i had to have 3 molars and a wisdom tooth removed all at the samr time while i was awake i maight add!! all from my bottom right it was very tender the next day then it started to taste very strange yes you guessed it got infected!!:gag: :gag:

all four sockets had got infected so iu had to go back to the dental hospital for antibiotics that i prefer to call space pills cos i was off my head for 7 days while i was on them :D

anyway once thoses healed up which took forever btw! it was time to go back for my bottom left wisdom tooth removin i went back but it was rooted at an angle but i refused to let them cut it as well as eerm basicly im a wimp:(

anyway she gave me the numbin stuff (p.s cant spell it :loopy: )
then waited she came to see if i was numb i wasnt s in went another lot four needles full later she started to attempt the exxtraction but it was a nightmare and the numbin stuff wasnt workin 100% so i was in a great deal of pain anyway after two hours of jabbin and pullin it came out and there was a bloody absus thing underneath on the roots of the wisdom tooth:gag:
that was why the numbin stuff hadnt worked anyway i left and went home 7 hours later i get coverd in a soddin rash yep i was havin an allergic reaction to the numbin stuff!! and to top it all of the pliers slipped wen she was pullin the crown up and smashed into the top set of teeth ouch!!! which resulted in her crackin an old filling!

anyway the nxt day wen i woke up no infection had set in this time thank god but all under my jaw was blue it looked like id been whacked with a bat under my jaw

anyway when i got over this lot i then went back to have a molar frm my top left removed the one the dentist had cracked in the last extraction but it couldnt be pulled as i had another infection in it ffs!! i thought so in much pain i suffered for a week but tey didnt get rid of it anyway 7 lots of antibiotics later it was gone so the dentist said right lets get it out for u love phew i thought and all went well with this one.

now only need one more out and ill be fab.:thumbsup:

bloody teeth a pain from birth to death if u ask me!

good luck with it anyway hun:thumbsup:

Originally posted by Abdul
:confused:

I'm unsure how this would physically be possible.

Was the Dentist playing with matches at the time?

Or did a combination of chemicals cause an explosion?

it is possible- when having a root cavity they melt the wax strips that they put inside the tooth, they have to light a lighter and heat up a metal instrument to melt them!

Originally posted by BrainThrust
I laugh at it now but at the time I was freaked out.

I can imagine :wow:

I had three wisdom teeth out with local anesthesia and a nitrous oxide mask that ended up on my forehead during the extractions.

There were complications, and the procedure took so long that my sister (who was waiting to drive me home) read an entire Dean Koontz novel from beginning to end. And still she waited.

But the worst part came a couple of days after the extractions when I rinsed my mouth out --- and water shot out my nose! Tried it again... same thing! My dentist later told me that it's not unusual for the procedure to make a hole in one's sinuses.

Thank goodness it healed, or I would have been a sideshow attraction.

Sooooo looking forward to tomorrow now!

Katy1981 - you poor thing! I got that socket infection after my extractions too, I've never experienced pain like it. I was like a zombie for almost 2 weeks I'd taken so many painkillers. Did wonders for the diet though! Lost half a stone through eating mashed potato and soup for nearly 3 weeks!

Nerves are starting to kick in now (appt at 4), but just re-read this thread and your answers made me feel a little better!

Thanks!

I don't think it's the thought of having the work done that scares me, it's the fact that root canals are usually only 60% successful, and when it's on your front top teeth, that's kinda worrying!

Only 60% successful :confused: I didn't know that!
I have an appointment booked for the beginning of January to have root canal treatment :( so what happens if it's not successful, do you have your tooth removed?

Originally posted by LellyBee
Only 60% successful :confused: I didn't know that!
I have an appointment booked for the beginning of January to have root canal treatment :( so what happens if it's not successful, do you have your tooth removed?

Thats a load of bull- don't worry!!!

They either get it out or they don't, you will be fine!!!

I had all my wisdom teeth out at my dentist under loacl, one at a time though. Whenever I had a really big hole left after tooth removed, he gave me a syringe without the needle bit so I could blast warm salt water into the hole to wash out all the bits of food and germs and I never got an infection. It didnt hurt to do it either, despite how it sounds.

I would always ask for one now. Why dont you ask next time - it really is great. When you see how much food comes outta the hole you'll know why you got infected without it!!!

I don't mind going to the dentist at all. In fact, I warned my dentist that during a long treatment I may just fall asleep .... :hihi:

I've got a really lovely dentist (to go along with my even lovlier doctor) woo hoo! Guess i'm just ultra lucky eh?!

At my dentist, the chair faces a huge picture window overlooking a well kept garden, so I can watch the birds, clouds etc .... if I can stay awake long enough.

I've probably had more dental treatment than anyone else I know, I'm looking forward to a top quality Christmas card from my dentist this year - he can well afford it with what i'm paying.

Have fun :D

Originally posted by scottf
Thats a load of bull- don't worry!!!

They either get it out or they don't, you will be fine!!!

Thought a root canal was just to basically drill right down into your tooth and repair with a "big" filling :confused: I've had an infection which has gone right down to the root but I didn't think root canal meant "taking" my tooth out :confused:

Hmmm...I have an apptmt for scale & polish next Tues so will ask my dentist for a little bit more info about root canal work then :thumbsup:

Root canal treatment involves drilling in to the roots and then using a metal file to basically clear away the pulp. The roots are then sealed with a rubber like matrerail and then the tooth is normally can either be crowned or filled depending on circumstances. It doesn't always work as the tooth can get infected, although it is possible to have another go at the root treatment in most cases. If all fails then the tooth would have to be extracted.

Thanks for the info, did think it would probably be something like that but I wasn't too sure :thumbsup:

I have heard of root canal thingy's but what happens during one? Why do people have to have them done?

Steph x

Hi

I'm back, and feeling sore! My top lip looks like I've had really bad botox!!

Must admit the root canal wasn't too bad though, no pain, just a little uncomfortable (at one point I thought he was trying to perform brain surgery!). Dentist said the root was very badly infected so the work was really deep into the tooth. It took about 45 mins, and I had my eyes shut the whole time! Back on the antibiotics and painkillers for a week, and then hopefully it will all calm back down.

Here's a bit more info on the procedure...

http://www.dentalhealth.org.uk/faqs/leafletdetail.php?LeafletID=35

As for the 60% success rate, this is what I was told by this dentist and the last one, although it's not mentioned on the article above.

Some tortures are physical
Some tortures are mental
But the one that combines both
Must surely be dental!

Ogden Nash.

Glad you survived the dentist GoGo_dancer :thumbsup:

When the dentists knee goes on your chest - you're in for a rough time. :o