Hi there i have to have 4 root canal treatments 2 top teeth and 2 bottom does it hurt? and whats involved how long does it take? i have to have a crown on one of them the others will just be small fillings

Miss L

Root canal treatment is not as bad as it sounds. I have assisted on hundreds of these procedures and can count on one hand the patients who experienced discomfort. Treatment time depends on how many canals each tooth has...they can have 1 or as many as 4. From start to finish they take about an hour and a half. Root canals start out similar to a filling. A small opening is made into the tooth and the Dr uses tiny files to clean out the pulp chamber and canals of the tooth. Then they will either fill the roots with a medication or gutta percha ( a filling material). If they are able to finish it in one visit, they will put in a permanent filling, if not, a temporary one will be placed. It sounds bad, but you will probably be able to sleep through it. I hope it goes well for you.

I didn't mind my root canal. I had it done on an emergency basis because I was in so much pain and I was going out of town. He numbed me up a lot, then got started drilling. I had a tiny little twinge of pain that was more of just feeling something than actual pain, but I let him know and he shot me up some more. (I ended up being numb from my ear to my nose!) I think the initial treatment took a total of an hour or so? He packed the canal with antibiotics and put in a temporary filling. I felt so much better than I did beforehand. I was a little sore for the next day or so, but ibuprofen took care of that. Then I went back for him to finish it, got all numbed up, etc. No pain afterward the second time. I'm not sure exactly how long it took because I also had another filling done on the second visit.

My doctor had a moving computer screen and I got to watch a movie while he worked. You might consider taking a portable music player with you so you can just zone out. I did have some issues with keeping my mouth open for so long, but they put in a bite block (just a hunk of hard rubber) so I could bite down and relax my jaws while still keeping my mouth open. Don't be afraid to tell the dentist your concerns and stop him at any point if you are in pain or uncomfortable. They don't want you to hurt, so they will do everything they can to fix it. Good luck!

hi thanks for your answers its just something i have to have done so fingers crossed my dentist did say if i felt any pain they could put something in it to kill the nerve and continue at another apointment i have tmj so im going to have 30 min appointments anyways thanks again

Miss L