Teeth are being a pain... still

My upper molar (the one which had the second part of the root canal done the other day) is still aching a bit, but less so than yesterday.

It seems that the gum just above the tooth hurts a bit when touched or pressed.

The actual treatment was not painful at all (surprisingly) - it's just afterwards that is when you get the pain.

After the anaesthetic wears off, the drilling right inside the tooth, right to the bottom of the root is what causes the pain later - the tooth is rather traumatised by all the sharp drills and having part of its enamel and dentine removed is a traumatic experience for living tissue and teeth are living tissue!

I know that a tooth that has its root removed is technically no longer alive, but it still gets some sort of blood supply and is still in contact with other teeth, nerves, tissue around it - the other nerves around the root of the tooth may also get traumatised by the vibration of the drilling, which can be causing my pain now. That's the only explanation I have for it to be still painful!

Tooth and gum around it hurts today

I know it was expected, but that still doesn't ameliorate the pain!

The tooth that had the root canal work done on it yesterday is hurting me today, as is the area in the gum above it and to the side of it.

The pain in the gum area is the worst. It's like this hot, searing pain and if anything touches it (like a bit of food), it hurts even more. In general and most of the time, there is a dull ache type of pain, which gets worse when anything puts pressure on that part of the gum - even me smiling or moving my mouth a certain way will do it. Yikes!

Damn, it's annoying.

Nothing much I can do about it, other than take some painkillers and I don't have any. I may get some tomorrow if the pain is still bad.

It was hurting a little last night and earlier today, but has seemed to get worse this evening after I ate dinner. Maybe it was the act of eating food, moving my facial/jaw muscles around (even though I was careful not to eat on the side of my mouth where the tooth is located), that has irritated the tooth and gum around it.

The same thing happened after the first part of the root canal treatment, so maybe that's all it is - the tooth is a little traumatised from all the drilling work done into its very roots and is inflamed now and it will take a few days for it to get feel normal again.

If it still hurts this much tomorrow, I may also call the dentist to ask them what I can do about it - they're probably the best people to ask, as they would know why it would be reacting this way and whether or not it was normal.

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.

Right side of my face is all swollen and it hurts

The day after I had the first part of the root canal work I woke up and the right side of my face was all swollen up. It was swollen quite a bit and there was also quite a bit of pain in the gum area at the root of my tooth, plus my tooth was quite sore to touch too.

I think because the tooth had quite a bit of work done to it in the root canal, by removing all the yucky pus and dead roots, that it was all infected with an abscess and already really painful especially in the gum area just near where my jaw meets the gum line, that inflamed the tooth even more.

And while cleaning out the infected parts was what was needed, because that means the abscess wont have anything to infect, right now, tampering with the infected tooth (while totally justified and required) just inflamed it a whole lot more.

I got the first part of the root canal done on Friday afternoon and on Saturday the side of my face was quite very swollen and was hurting a bit, on Sunday the swelling and pain started to go down quite a bit, as did the pain. Now today (Monday), the swelling is almost gone.

The only thing that hurts today is the gum area above my tooth, where the root of the tooth is, that is still quite sore, so maybe the abscess isn't totally gone yet. It is getting better because it was more sore the last few days, but it is getting better very slowly!

It's take a while longer for the inflammation (swelling) to settle down and that is because I haven't been taking any medication (anti-inflammatory medicine), but at least it is starting to get better, so that is the main thing.

It will probably take a few more days till it's all good and the pain completely goes away.

Had the first part of the root canal done today

Finally, I decided to have the root canal treatment today (or at least the first part of it).

I was scheduled with another dentist to have an appointment early next week, but I couldn't wait any more.

I have been on antibiotics for two weeks now and started another one this morning and it's enough!  I started on one type, then when that one want working very well any more, had to get another type, which I took for a week, finishing my last dose yesterday afternoon.

I got another type yesterday, the strongest of the lot and didn't start taking it until late this morning, so from last night, there was almost 24 hours in between taking no antibiotics and I could really feel it this morning!  The right side of my face was a bit swollen again and it was starting to hurt a lot again.

I took the new antibiotics and within about 1/2 an hour, I could feel the pain starting to get better. I was directed take a double dose for the first dose, so that was why I could feel the antibiotic taking effect almost immediately. It didn't make the swelling go down that quickly, but stopped the pain from getting worse.

After that, I decided I couldn't wait the whole weekend, taking more antibiotics, just waiting and waiting four more days, plus I didn't feel so well this morning - the tooth abscess was infecting my sinuses too - so I called another dentist and they had some time that afternoon. The dentist actually spoke to me and was kind patient on the phone, so I felt comfortable about seeing him.  Once I got there, he saw me straight away (I think I got in because they put me in during their lunch hour, as there were people waiting after I left). I explained everything to him, about all of my previous bad experiences with dentists and how I was petrified about being there and I told him about the tooth, which I thought must have an abscess.  He took a look around my mouth and took some x-rays to view the tooth and then asked me if I wanted the root canal work to be started right then, or for me to wait until the following week. I decided I wanted it done then and there. He told me that my assessment about it being an abscess was correct.

He did go slowly putting the needle in, when I could feel anything, he slowed down until I couldn't and when he did the work cleaning the tooth out - all three roots had to be cleaned out - they smelt so gross when he opened up the roots where the nerves were filled with pus and yucky stuff.  I think I was in there with him for two hours. He used two doses (two needles - I couldn't feel the second needle at all) of the really strong anaesthetic and then started drilling, stopping every so often, or when I needed him to. He had a dam over my mouth to stop the infected rotten nerves and other infected material from going into my mouth (prevented me swallowing it). He told me I had to come back for the second part - more cleaning of the roots and proper filling and then later a crown.

I was so happy after the treatment ended!  I felt nothing. Hallelujah! At the start, my legs were shaking in the chair, while I was lying there and I was holding my hands tightly, but by the end of it, I did relax (even while he was drilling) and I was okay.  I think because he explained everything to me in a calm way at the start, it helped to allay my fears a little.

It took about 6 hours for that double dose of anaesthetic to wear off, but now the tooth and the area near the tooth are sore - poor tooth, it was traumatised by all the drilling work that was done on it.  Apparently, it should all settle down by tomorrow night. Thank goodness this tooth is now being taken care of and will be good!