Emergency Root Canals are AMAZING

One of my bottom molars had crumbled on me while driving to find a wedding dress in late 2012.  Yes. . .a piece of tooth crumbled off from the rest!  I immediately went to the dentist and was told that I would "probably" need to go to a specialist to get a root canal.  Although I had taken off of work to go to this dentist, he refused to inspect the rest of mouth as I had asked him to.

Feeling irritated, I decided I would go to another dentist for a second opinion.  Between work, school, and the wedding, my schedule was crammed full.  I didn't make it to my secondary opinion dentist until now . . .as an emergency visit.  I had waited too long, and the decay in my crumbled tooth made its way toward the pulp chamber. 

I felt a sharp, throbbing, constant pain from my tooth, through my jaw and up to my ear.  It felt like I had a raging ear infection on top of what was going on in my mouth.  The first night I struggled to fall asleep for over three hours.  The pain was nagging and brutal, so I decided to take an ibuprofen.  Eventually the pain subsided and I fell asleep.  The next day, I was popping ibuprofen every couple of hours.  The pain was intolerable, and what was worse is that the ibuprofen wouldn't work like it had for me the first night.  I flushed out the tooth with warm water, curious if it were irritated because I had a particle of food stuck inside the crack.  I stood on my head because the rush of blood made my tooth and jaw feel better.  There was a point where I burrowed my head in my hands and cried because it hurt so bad.  I had never been in so much pain in my short 21 years of living.  Since it was the weekend, I could do nothing but wait it out or go to the emergency room.

As soon as the dentist office opened on Monday, I called before the phone lines were even open.  Upon getting a hold of someone, they booked me as a walk-in with no appointment since they were full that day.  The waiting room was packed as I walked in, but I was admitted quickly.  A dental hygienist took x-rays of my teeth and also fully cleaned them.  After slapping my hands for not flossing, and being sent on my way with a prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste, I made my way down to the specialist area to take care of my root canal.

Was I scared?  No.  I was in so much pain I didn't care how they went about making my tooth feel better.  I also researched the procedure, and heard that getting a root canal was easier than getting a cavity filled.  The endodontist (root canal specialist) numbed me up and I was ready to go!  I wore a pair of sunglasses to keep the focus light out of my eyes, and had to clamp down on a rubber barrier to keep my mouth open.  After that, the dental assistant placed a rubber dam in my mouth to isolate my tooth for the root canal.  And then the drilling began!  The dentist was drilling my tooth while looking through a bizarre dental microscope.  After she hollowed out my tooth, she began filing the roots to remove them.  Then she packed my tooth with rubber material, melted it into my canals, and temporarily sealed my tooth until I got my crown in two weeks.

I didn't feel a thing they were doing to me.  I was actually rather interested in what was going on.   From start to finish, it took the specialist less than 30 minutes, which gave me enough time to scurry back home, get my backpack and leave for class that evening.  After the numbing effects had eluded me, I felt no pain whatsoever.  Even though I was told to take ibuprofen should I experience any pain, I still haven't had to take a single one, and it's been almost 5 days since the procedure.  I had no swelling or aching, either.  I figure I am pretty lucky and handle surgeries well, or root canals aren't so bad after all.

After being in such intense pain for over 48 hours, I felt so blessed to have that root canal.  The surgery itself was a heaven sent.  My wallet disagrees, even though I have great dental insurance.

Ladies and gentlemen, brush and floss those pearly whites daily to avoid the pain prior to a root canal surgery, and the financial responsibility afterward.  Oh, and the $25.00 per tube prescription fluoride toothpaste, too.