Root Canals (And Other Fun Stuff...)

if you don't believe that the mercury amalgam that they put in the hole they drill is poison, ask the dentist that does the work why they have to perform hazardous material procedures when removing mercury amalgam fillings.

mercury amalgam use is unconscionable. ask if they have an alternative.

They broke a tooth of mine and we have had a few dental mal cases against them at my job.

97% Of Terminal Cancer Patients Had Root Canals

see info at link at bottom of this page

Tiger, I agree 100%

I wish someone had told me this 15 years ago. Would have saved me much grief and money

Root canals are big business for dentists

But honestly, it's a 19th century technique. Can't we do better than this?

Like some here have said, it comes from that "golden" age of dentistry that also gave us mercury fillings and other toxic goodies, leaching who knows what into your system

In addition, as I know from experience, the poison from the infected tooth often isn't really removed either, so now you have both the poison from the infection and the poison from the junk used to fill the roots, in your mouth.

Nice..lol.

I think I'll pass until dentistry comes into the 21st century

Maybe not if it's too far gone...but you won't likely get a dentist to tell you how, they got house payments too...

Now you have me thinking about it. I'll probably try it with this tooth and see how it goes. I'm guessing here that the implants are cheaper?


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I'll have to check my dental coverage to see if implants are covered and how much coverage the offer. Thanks tiger1.


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I am going to inquire them about this. They might use an alternative filling, I hope. I know I'd rather not go with the mercury.


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My mother has some mercury fillings and she had cancer twice so far.


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Yep!

Expensive houses from the looks of the bill I received, lol.


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I don't understand why are you prolonging this stuff?

Prolonging what exactly?


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I've had only one root canal, about 15 years ago. It hasn't been any trouble since.

The dentist started grinding on the tooth. He told me to tell him if it hurt. Suddenly there was a blast of extreme pain. He had broken through to the center of the tooth, to the nerve. He then put anesthetic into the center of the tooth, I think.

That was just how he did root canals. When the patient screamed in pain, that told him he had reached the inside of the tooth.

More than often they tell you the tooth is a loss and send you down the root canal route. The dentist does get a referral kick-back if he can't do the root canal himself. If the dentist is considered an oral surgeon also then he will make even bigger $. Root canals are big $ for them.

I would say a root canal is necessary if the infection is eating away at the nerve and root. But usually there is a deep cavity that is close to the nerve but the nerve is still alive and healthy. 70% of the time, all the dentist has to do is clean out the rest of the cavity and small infection, sanitize it and apply a medicated hard carbonate filling that contains eugenol to stop infection. The tooth and nerve usually build up their own mineral layer barrier next to the medicated filling(yes, teeth are capable of repairing themselves in certain situations). Then the temporary filling is covered with a hard white UV cured methacylate polymer to seal it all in for protection. This second option only costs about $120 but the root canal commonly costs $1200 or more.

But the trick is, you have to find a dentist that is honest and looking our for your wallet and health of the tooth.

Bowman,

The folks recommending an implant -vs- root canal are absolutely correct.

Here root canal plus crown is around $2000, implant is around $3000.

In the long run the implant is more cost effective and much safer health wise. If you think you are within 10 years of checking out just have the tooth pulled and practice your comedic routines ;-)

exactly

I actually found dentists who do implants for less than the cost of a root canal + crown

They also dont tell you about apicoectomy risks, but I've had this happen twice.

One root tip become infected years after the original root canal. I guess at those little narrow tips, the infection can lay dormant for years until some change in your system re-ignites it

The cost of the apicoectomy was over $800, for a reputable oral surgeon back in 1994!

I can only imagine how much they are now

The other poster is right about the alternatives to root canal

I was in a new dentists office when I overheard him asking his receptionist about my dental plan - which at the time was excellent

I guess he thought I hadn't heard him

He then came back into the room and told me I needed an apicoectomy as well as a root canal, which I knew I didn't, because at this point I know what they feel like.

I told him let's go ahead and just do the other root canal

About 15 mins later I felt a sharp pain on the tooth he was working on, and he said "Ooooh, look, a piece of the pin snapped off in the tip of your root. Looks like we're going to have to do that apio anyway...can't leave it in there"

SOFB!

That jerk deliberately sabotaged my tooth to make the extra $$

I guess like bad mechanics some of these bad dentists can see you coming from a mile away

That idiot did such a sloppy job that I lost the tooth within 2 years, but not before spending a total cost of close to $2800

Thats when I decided to go the route of implants and only implants.

I have an excellent and honest oral surgeon in NYC who does implant work, should anyone need a name, fwiw

Good luck OP.

Usually I believe we can usually cure health issues with diet and change of habits. However, this doen't apply to dental work, which must be done by a 'specialist', so we're reduced to trust

Last Edited by Blue Zeus on 06/26/2012 07:18 PM

Sounds like you had an old fashioned dentist. I had one at one time and he'd always jam the pick right into a cavity 'just to be sure'. I felt like knocking him out, lol.


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Well I felt very comfortable with them on the initial inspection. They were very forward with what they found. They showed me the x-rays and I was able to see the gap and how it compared to the other teeth. They are a reputable local practitioner, not some bang 'em in and out chain. So far so good anyways.


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Thanks 21. : )

Sounds like the implant is more cost effective, so long as the root canal fails down the road at some point.

Not ready for the 'whistle tooth' comedy routine just yet.


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Nope all of mine have failed in 5 years or less. Just pull it.

Make arrangements with the dentist to have the implant placed at the SAME TIME as the extraction. That not only saves bone height but an extra visit and series of anesthetic injections.

Implants are more expensive, but they are a permanent solution, and will probably last a lifetime. A root canal might last 1-10 years, the same with a crown. Eventually, in both instances, you will lose the tooth. IMO, when you add up the cost of trying to save it, and the pain, an implant is a better investment.

A lot of dentists are doing just that, remove the bad tooth, and put the implant in the same day, if not immediately. Once you have the gap from the missing tooth, your other teeth go out of line pretty quick, and there is bone loss. It makes it harder to do an implant at a later time, and you might be stuck with a partial denture, or a bridge. Bridges are not permanent either. They cause the "locking" teeth to lose stability, and make them more prone to decay.

Had this done yesterday...Dentist said I almost waited too late...Hope it holds and everything works out OK!

Root canals are nothing. It's the wait that's excruciating. I was 3/4 through "Finding Nemo" (it was either that or "Seinfeld", I wanted an episode of "OZ") until he walked in and started with the procedure.

Your face will feel numb afterwards. That's the only fun part.

i had 3 of them done correctly and no worse than getting fillings---3 molars
and i couldn't afford the caps so they were simply filled
and they lasted almost 30 years and most likely WOULD HAVE lasted longer, except the damn gum disease progressed to new LOWS -LOL-
leaving the root wide open to either one getting an infection and the others simply had way tooooo much root exposed and man,that HURT-- then they were extracted-

had the posts and all holding things together and more "lead" than a .22 in them and ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS.

some dentists get boners for root canals because it pays the most for their time.

2-4 hours

except that bout of gum disease

this.