I will be going for an evaluation of a tooth that needs a Root Canal on
Friday. I had gone last year and I just kept putting it off. The dentist
said you can have the root canal or I can just pull the tooth. Even though it is way in the back I feel I would rather save the tooth. Can anybody
suggest what they would do?

Mark, in response to your question, your teeth in the back you really do not need, but yes that is correct to save a tooth root canal is the way to go. I just had a root canal last week and I have 2 more to go. The problem with me is I went to the dentist and had 3 crowns put on and my teeth were still killing me, throbbing in my jaw to up my ear and hot and cold sensation. I had to go to a root canal specialist (endodontist) to evaluate my situation. The thing is the specialist had to drill through my new crown to get to the root. I will have to do the same with the other two. The whole procedure is time consuming and was not as bad as I thought. No pain at all, just relief.

I went to the dentist to evaluate my tooth and I will have root canal on it next week.

The reason I am posting is while I was in the dentist office, I was reading some interesting information in the dentistry industry.

"Recent surveys indicate there are approximately 50 million people in the United States affected by bad breath. As a result, many of these people who suffer from bad breath don't even know they have it".

Have a greeat weekend!

I had my root canal last week and it feels fine now.

I am happy to put it past me as I did not look forward to having it done.

Hi Mark,
I just had my root canal on Friday (second one within 3 weeks), this tooth took me 7 needles to get numb. How many needles did you get? I have 2 more to go. Does it take you a long time to get numb also? I really do not care how many needles I get because the result is no more pain in my mouth. Take care, Teri

I have to respond to the idea that you don't need your back teeth...Not true at all.

Your front teeth are for cutting and tearing through your food. Back teeth are for chewing. If we didn't have our back teeth, we wouldn't be able to grind our food before swallowing. This would then lead to digestive problems from swallowing food not properly chewed.

I am glad to see that both of you are finding it important to save your teeth rather than pulling them.

I was a dental assistant for 12 years and it is amazing how many people are just concerned about their front teeth because they are the teeth they (and everyone else) can see. Each tooth has a purpose.

Libby

Hi teri, my question for you is why did they have to drill through your new crowns for the root canal? You paid so much money for those crowns. I just got a crown, and now one week later they want to do the same thing. I want a new crown as well!

Teri,

ya why did they do the crown before a root canal. My rc dr told me she could not tell if I could go with the crown with no rc and have no problems. Since it was questionable, I decided to go for the rc and be safe. Drilling threw a crown is a shame, it can be done and be ok, but it could weaken and break too.

What did they advise you before the crown???

Getting a tooth crowned without a root canal treatment is risky.

Unless you and dentist are certain the tooth is going to be trouble
free, the best strategy is for the dentist to put a band around the
tooth for strength and place a semi-permanent filling on the tooth.

If the tooth remains trouble free for 3 to 6 months then you can
consider adding a crown.

Mike

Hi Mark. A friend of mine also recommended Dr. Snyder but lost his number. I've been searching online to trying find it and I stumbled on your post. Is there any way you can give me his contact info?