Keep me in your thoughts; my upper right molar #2 received root canal therapy on Sept. 7th...

[Radio_Lady]

Redone with "calming medicine" in October, then finally sealed in November.

It all flared up again in December and now it's January. Endodontist is nice but doesn't have any answers. Handed me off to another doctor (periodontist) for a second opinion.

So I trudge off to talk to him at 3 PM Thursday.

Just read something on the Internet -- in a way, it's kind of funny.

5 - 15% of endodontic treatment fails. If it's failed before in your mouth (it has failed before in the 1970s, but things have improved, so they say), it's likely to fail again on other teeth.

There are also descriptions of "personality traits" that can cause bruxing -- grinding of teeth. I have a bite guard for that situation but can't put it on -- too painful tonight. And failures are more frequent in -- guess which sex -- the female gender.

Really crappy way to start the New Year. I tried very hard to "enjoy" three weeks in Florida. Did that daily rotating two tablets of Aleve and one Tylenol, plus multiple swabs of topical anesthetic. I also have narcotics but am loathe to take them.

I am one hour away from dosing myself into sleep.

If you see this at all, I thank you for taking the time to read it.

Thanks from Radio Lady

[Warpy]

1. There is nothing worse than a mouthful of bad teeth

Been there, done that, finally talked them into yanking them all because I knew expensive heroics would only forestall the inevitable by a decade or less and brought in the literature to back it up (rare illness).

Although I don't look so pretty now, it was the smartest thing I ever did. I do have occasional gum irritation, but massage generally has that last only a day or less. I have to cut my corn off the cob and cut my apples apart, but at least I can eat them both without pain. Because denture adhesives have progressed in quality, the store bought jobs feel like my own teeth most of the time and yes, I can still eat poppyseed muffins.

Most people should try to keep their teeth as long as they can. However, for the unlucky few of us who either inherited bad teeth or have illnesses that damage our teeth, modern dentures are a complete blessing.

[Radio_Lady]

2. Thanks, Warpy. I'm on my way to the dentist this afternoon.

I still have most of my teeth, but have had BIG difficulties with the eight molar teeth left after they extracted my four wisdom teeth when I was 19 years old.

There are two molars gone in the 1970s (lower left first and second molars) after heroic efforts to save those teeth. Nerve damage from those teeth being worked on gave me FOUR YEARS of trigeminal pain and I ended up in the hospital. Implants were not advanced at the time of this work, so I got a two unit partial denture that replaced those two molars.

Now, I've got one molar #2 on the upper arch that's killing me after endodontics. Either I can calm it down somehow, or I will have to get it extracted.

I don't know if I want to deal with an expensive implant and more possible encroachment on the nerve system. I'll just have damned little space to chew on and will join the ranks of the people who USED to have an "A" mouth but don't anymore. After all, I'm almost 70 years old.

Anyway, thanks for your support. I did get along for a long time with the mantra, "What the hell? It's only teeth. Other people have a lot worse."

[OnionPatch]

4. I had a root canal that wouldn't settle down

last August. What the endodontist did was give me something called an apicoectomy. Did they try that or suggest that? They make an incision in your gum, pull it back and then drill a hole through the bone to the tip of the root of the tooth. They cut off the tip of the root and fill the end with the filling material.

It sounds awful, I know. But it worked. When the pain from the surgery wore off, the original pain was gone too. The tooth felt better than it had for a year. It's been about three weeks since the apicoectomy now and it's all healed up and doing fine.

But of course each case is different. I would guess your endodontist would have suggested an apicoectomy if he/she thought it would help you.

Anyway, I do hope you're doing better since you last posted.

[JerseygirlCT]

3. I had a tooth flare up again after 25 years!

Boy, was I surprised to need a root canal again on a tooth that had been root canaled in my teens!

The endo says that some people's roots branch off, and there can be a root sort of hidden that doesn't get all done with the root canal.

I went through a few years with a ton of abscesses and needing lots of root canals - so much fun! I hope this all worked out for you.

[Liberty Belle]

5. I had one that failed but another that they eventually got right, so don't give up.

First one had root canal, but kept having pain until it shattered (still had a temporary crown). When they pulled it they found out I had a hidden 4th root (you're only supposed to have 2 or 3).

Couple of years later I had another tooth that needed root canal. I warned the doc to check for extra roots. He still missed one! I kept going back and he wouldn't do anything. So finally I saw a different endodontist who opened the tooth up and found - yep - a root that was missed. This time he filled it and everything was fine.

The first guy gave me a full refund when I informed him what he'd missed (probably counting himself lucky I didn't sue him for the year of pain and suffering i went through).