STUBBORN husband, root canal need advice

[dana500]

the dentist told him he needs a rootcanal on his back molar, they didnt want to pull it cuz he chews on that side,
(one time before he got a tooth pulled and when he came back he saw a different dentist at the same office and that dentist had told him that tooth could have been saved, so i'm thinking they dont know what they are doing or they want $$$$$.)
anyway my grandma told me she had two teeth with bad cavities in the front and they just drilled the decay away and capped them and didnt have to have a root canal, so i metioned this to him and he won't listen cuz he thinks sometimes i think i "know it all" when i'm just trying to help, he's a pain in the butt, i just said u might want to ask the dentist, i didnt say u dont need it cuz i have no idea.
i'm wondering if anyone knows if a root canal is nessasary or what because its gonna cost us 150$ :( that we seriously dont have, i mean we would be screwed and behind on bills next month and wont be able to catch up, so if this can be avoided ...i'd REALLY appreciate info so i can tell him and "know it all" LOL

[schsa]

A dentist's job is to save your teeth and keep your mouth healthy. A root canal means that he has infection or a dead nerve in his tooth. The infection needs to be treated or it will get worse. Much worse.

Yes it is expensive. The tooth has to be dug out, the root treated and then generally they do a crown on the tooth so that you don't loose the tooth entirely.

Call your local county hospital and see if there is a free dental clinic in your area. Check with your minister and see if there is a dentist in your congregation who would work with you as part of his/her tithing. Don't assume that you have to pay full price. There are other options but you just have to check around.

[suziebee20]

You could always go for a second opinion. It may not need a root canal, it depends on how deep the cavity is. I had a tooth my dentist thought was going to need one, but once he started drilling it it turned out it wasn't as deep as it looked so he just filled it. If it does need a root canal, I'd get it done... if you wait it'll start hurting... BADLY! It can also get infected and I believe, not positive, that it can hurt the bone surrounding the tooth and cause all kinds of other problems. If it gets real bad, they might have to send him to an endodontist (I think that's what a dentist who specializes in root canals is called) and then it will cost a lot. :(

[nanajoanie]

A dentist's job is to save your teeth and keep your mouth healthy. A root canal means that he has infection or a dead nerve in his tooth. The infection needs to be treated or it will get worse. Much worse.

Yes it is expensive. The tooth has to be dug out, the root treated and then generally they do a crown on the tooth so that you don't loose the tooth entirely.

Call your local county hospital and see if there is a free dental clinic in your area. Check with your minister and see if there is a dentist in your congregation who would work with you as part of his/her tithing. Don't assume that you have to pay full price. There are other options but you just have to check around.

ITA!! Get other opinions or second or third opinions. Best of luck.

[dana500]

thanks, i hope it didnt sound like i want him to suffer, i just meant if he didnt really need it then why go through all that and waste the money if they could just crown it, and yes he already waited till his tooth was very painful to go :rolleyes:

[puffy]

...

[suziebee20]

On monday I went to the dentist because I have a crack in my back molar and couldnt stand the pain any more. He showed me on my xray that the crack was almost touching the nerve and told me I had 2 options: pay the $800 (since we dont have dental insurance yet) for the root canal or pay substantially less to have him clean it out, medicate it and put a temp fill in it until I could afford to have the root canal (I didn't want him to pull it, which he wouldve done). I had him temp fill it and will be able to put off the root canal for several weeks until I can come up with the money. My tooth doesnt hurt at all anymore but its in no way a permanent solution just helps buy some time.

That's a good idea! My dentist did that with my root canals, put a temp filling in it after he medicated it and cleaned it out. Then 2 week later I went back and he made sure it was all cleaned out still and he put a better filling on it. Then a week later I got a crown. I remember him telling me the temp filling would hold up for a goodly while if I couldn't come back in 2 weeks.

[teenies*mom]

Well - if my dentist ever tells me I need another root canal, I am gonna tell her to pull the darn thing. This is what happened to me.....
Last September she said I needed root canal/cap, ok fine - it took a few trips to the dentist but it was done and after my insurance paid its portion, I still ended up owing over a thousand dollars (which by the way I am still paying on), so this past March I ended up getting a real bad infection in the tooth that I had the root canal done on - well my dentist was out on maternity leave so I saw her replacement, he told me that the tooth should have been pulled and if he doesn't pull it the infection will never go away - it will be a reocurring thing. Well I had him pull it, which I wanted done in the first place but my husband had me get the root canal done. I have not had a problem since. So I should have just had mine pulled.
My gripe is that I don't think that I should have to pay anymore for this root canal job because I no longer have the tooth - I mean it was only 6 months after the root canal that I had to have the stupid thing pulled. And the replacement dentist told me it should have just been pulled in the first place so........................
anyway, no more root canals for me.
And this was one of my bottom molars too.


Good Luck!

[teenap]

tell him to get it done or pulled...i neglected my teeth for four years and now am paying the price, literally! I need two teeth pulled (they thought they could do root canals but no) and crowns, plus periodontal disease, and root cleanings...ouch....
just have it pulled if it isnt somewhere he would be concerned about it showing, cheaper and easier