Root Canal or get tooth pulled?

[ILoveDaveLamb]

I had the worst toothache at the weekend. I literally did not know what to do with myself.

A nice dentist gave me emergency treatment yesterday and the pain is much reduced...just a niggle now really.

It is my second off back tooth. I had to choose between a referral to a specialist (private] dentist for a root canal filling and a cap...about £1k ..nhs treatment or an extraction. I am veering between the 3 options.

I am booked in for an NHS root canal...no guarantees it will work. Appointment is an hour and 15 mins. Yikes. Saw girlfriends for lunch today who had all had root canals which did not work. Now thinking about extraction.

What would you do? I am 50 and a big fat wimp.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Mmm, firstly teeth are so important. Who wants a gap!

Bear in mind if you go private a bridge will be circa £850+

The quality of a Dentist is measured by how they do root canal work in my view. Small screw type implements repeatedly pushed down into the root to extract the nerve, then filled to provide a good 'base'. I last had one done 25 years ago. Still good to this day and he kept re inserting the screw type tools for about 8 weeks and filling the root with Dettol and capping the tooth. Then repeat the process every 2 weeks. Great Guy.

To pull a tooth is worst case scenario.

[sam_b]

Root canal every time - and I am a wimp as well.

[ILoveDaveLamb]

Really? See, stomach is turning, just reading Mr Tom’s description...the dentist did say extraction might not be super straight forward as my teeth are closely packed and the roots look solid in x-ray. I wish they still knocked you out for dental work! X

[Andybear]

I agree with root canal. For me the worst part is keeping my mouth open for such a long time! It aches after a while. The ones I've had have worked, have had no problems.

[kansaskitty]

I’m 29 and have had two root canals, they’re absolutely fine, fell asleep during one of mine. Don’t get it pulled!

[68nic]

Root canal sounds worse than it is. Other than a normal filling is that they take the nerves out . Ive had it done 2 or 3 times . It just takes a little bit longer than a normal filling. You are numb anyway you wont notice much difference while they are doing it. Def root canal You will just feel abit bruised after the injection wears of that evening .

[Tigger71]

I have had 3 root canals, 2 crowns and extracted 8 teeth in total (4 of which were wisdom teeth). I have a gap in my lower left row where I am missing the wisdom tooth and the one in front of it. Doesnt bother me the slightest- no impact to chewing and you cannot see it when I smile.

If I was given the option - and you wouldnt be able to see the gap, I would pick extraction any day. It hurts but is quick. Healing can be painful for a few days and you need to be careful food isnt trapped in the hole but it heals surprisingly quick.

Root canals with crown take several visits, costs a small fortune and for me it was painful. For my last one I was also ”lucky” to have 3 roots to fill in my tooth instead of 2.

[Nicksgirl]

I had 2 back teeth that kept being filled, filled, filled, then crowned. My mum used to say for god sake have them out. Eventually I did... I have not looked back. They were teeth I always had problems with. Thank god I have great teeth elsewhere. I think it all depends where the teeth are. xx

[nadya]

Well I would say root canal,but when I had the same choice,I started the root canal,dentist drilling etc for over an hour,turns out he couldn't find the canals!-well only one.So I had the option of waiting months for a referral or extraction. I had the extraction,yes I'd of preferred the root canal but really concerned about the wait,especially as we were off on holiday a week later and no guarantee of no issues, the travel insurance didn't cover it either.Hope yours goes well,I too am the biggest wimp at the dentist but it was ok tbh.