Second part of root canal done

Today I had to be at the dentist for two hours, while he completed the second part of the root canal on my upper molar. I saw the other dentist in the practice, as he is more experienced in root canal procedures.

The dentist wanted to give me the anaesthetic needle without giving me a topical anaesthetic first, but I wasn't prepared for that and I asked for it and he obliged. He put the needle with the anaesthetic very slowly and steadily and I felt nothing while he was inserting it into my gum. Sometimes I have felt pain when the needle goes in, but this time was pretty good.

He had to remove the temporary filling and other material that the first dentist used and then file away the three chambers where the root of the tooth was formerly housed (which got infected and inflamed previously and had to be removed in the first appointment.

He used some interesting drills, which were whirring away slowly, aimed I guess, at removing any pulp and other diseased material in the chambers.

The root chambers of the tooth were cleaned out - when he first took out the temporary filling, it smelt of decay and wasn't pleasant, but it was not nearly as bad as when I had the first part of the root canal. Cleaning out the root chambers ensured that all decayed (and useless) material was removed and this means it should be good.

Once the root chambers were all cleaned out, dry and ready, he added a filling to the tooth.

I have to get a porcelain crown on the tooth, to strengthen it, but not yet - in a few months.

He also told me that the tooth would be a little sore for the next 4-5 days, due to the work that was done on it today, but it would settle down. I started to feel a slight bit of discomfort, very slightly just at the end of the treatment, when he was affixing the filling and the drill bit touched the side of my tooth for a fraction of a second, but it wasn't painful by any means, it just felt like brief uncomfortable pressure.

I am so glad to have finally found a dental practice which takes my pain sensations seriously and anaesthetises my nerves so that I don't feel pain.  And, their assistants are really lovely and unjudgemental. It's nice to finally find a dentist practice like that!

I didn't even get really scared or freaked out about the dental appointment today, whereas normally, for a few days prior to a dental appointment, I start stressing quite a lot. So that, says a lot about these two dentists - they really are patient and caring and listen to their patients!

I have finally found a dentist I can trust and who I can go to on a regular basis for maintaining the health of my teeth.

Dentists confirms abscess at root of the tooth

No wonder I have been getting such severe pain in my tooth - there is an abscess under the root, near the nerve.

I started taking some antibiotics on Sunday afternoon, because I thought that maybe if the tooth was this painful, there may be an abscess underneath in the root area, that was causing the huge pain.

By the time it was Monday morning, I was in such severe pain that it hurt to even swallow my own saliva! The pressure from my tongue in my mouth was irritating the exposed nerve in that tooth and it hurt really badly.  Not only did that hurt, but the whole of my right side of my jaw, upper and lower hurts so much too. It's just awful.

I don't have a dentist here, so I had to ring around to find someone, but two of the dentists I tried were not available until Wednesday, which was in two days time. That was not soon enough for me, as the pain was excruciating!  I finally found a dentist who could take me in, in a few hours, as they had a spot available in their emergency appointment schedule - thank goodness!

Breakfast consisted of half a glass of a smoothie I made - to give me some energy. I had to drink it through a straw because any of the liquid that touched the tooth hurt so much.

When I saw the dentist, I explained to her the problem and the pain, as well as my bad experiences with dentists in the past, together with my very low threshold of pain and the fact that I get sinus issues, which makes working on my top teeth very difficult, because the vibrations of the drill vibrate the sinus passages and that causes pain, even with anaesthetic injected.


The dentist recommended that I undertake the treatment to the tooth under light sedation. Because the tooth and surrounding area is so sore, she advised me that she may not be able to get the area numbed enough to be able to treat the tooth. That was disappointing, but at least she was honest and had integrity enough to let me know what my best option was. She gave me two phone number of dentists, one who she really recommended, but didn't know if he did sedation and the other she didn't really know, but knew he did sedation.

I called the first practice, who confirmed they did not do sedation there and gave me the phone number of another dentist (not on the list) who did sedation and who was really good. God, I hope he is, as I am petrified of going to the dentist!

Today when I woke up, the right side of my face was visibly swollen. Not a lot, but enough to be visible that there was an issue underneath. The gum near the tooth was also sore, as was my jaw at the joint. I rang the dental surgery who explained that it was not anything to worry about too much unless the swelling got worse and that I would be okay as I was seeing the other dentist tomorrow.

My appointment with the dentist who does the sedation work is tomorrow morning - it is for a consultation to see what he can do for this tooth. The first dentist already sent over my file and x-ray to their practice, so they know what they're dealing with.

Really bad toothache from a chipped filling

I have a big chip in one of my fillings near one of my top molar teeth. I haven't had anyone look at it because I always get a lot of pain when I got to the dentist, even if they use the strong anaesthetic. I have realised it is because of my sinusitis that when the drill starts vibrating on the upper teeth, this is especially painful as it reverberates in my sinuses, which are really close to the roots of my teeth (basic anatomy) and then that causes pain in my teeth, more than would normally be felt. I only realised it when one dentist was working on my upper teeth and I was experiencing pain and discomfort, even with the anaesthetic. Yet when he drilled a tiny bit off the bottom of one tooth, there was no pain and he didn't even use anaesthetic. He was perplexed, but it was only after I left that I realised why.

So today, my upper pre-molar tooth is hurting me so badly, it feels like the nerve is pinched and that is a really horribly painful feeling - the pain feels like it's ululating and the whole of the right side of my jaw, both upper and lower teeth are feeling a referred pain! That's pretty painful, to say the least.

I didn't have anything to numb the pain, so I had to go out to the supermarket to get some cloves - they are the first aid to any dental pain, as they help to numb the gums and teeth and reduce the level of pain. They are really efficient and have been used for centuries to numb the mouth. Clove oil is also used for the same purpose.

I used two cloves at a time for about 15 minutes each, keeping them in place with my tongue in the position where I wanted them to stay.  The relief from the pain was almost instant. It was incredibly gratifying to have no pain, simply due to a little, humble flower bud from a spice.

The pain is now bearable, but it comes and goes. Hopefully I can get to sleep tonight. I don't have any cloves in my mouth now and it is so painful! So maybe it may not be easy to sleep tonight.