root canal or extraction

[Cindi]

Hi all

I have to decide on wheteher to have a root canal or extraction.I am in late stage CFS,have active rheumatoid arthritis and had total hip replacement this year. Due to total hip replacement requirements, i need to take antibiotics whether i have canal treatment or extraction.I used to be against root canals. In fact i had one root canaled tooth taken out in past but today i am confused. I am not sure how i can handle the trauma of extraction.I have also read that cavitations which may form after extraction are as bad as root canals.i have slow recovery rate and it might be easy for my body to form cavitation problem,too. i wished to take your opinions on this issue.Thanks a lot.

Note : For some reason i am not getting e mail notificatios from forum. so, please excuse me if my answers are late. thanks.

 

[minkeygirl]

Hi @Cindi. That's a tough one. I'm assuming it's in the back so if it was extracted it wouldn't be seen.

I had a dry socket after my wisdom teeth were removed. That happens when the scab accidentally comes out. It is painful but I remember they packed it with something while it healed and I had no problem with pain then.

I'd be tempted to do the root canal since it's less traumatic but may take a few more visits no? My root canal did not hurt at all and that was years ago.

 

[snowathlete]

I had an extraction rather than a root canal a couple of years ago. I don't regret it. I was worried about cavitation forming too, but it didnt. I don't miss that tooth. I have an old root canal as well that has never been right and needs to either be redone or removed. I've had too much going on to deal with it, but I will be having that one out as well.
The extraction was surprisingly not too traumatic when I had it done on the other one. The root canal on the other hand was problem after problem. It depends how good your dentist is of course.
I wouldnt want to lose too many mind you, but one or two I dont think are missed too much. My dentist who is very into implants etc would disagree, but then he makes a lot of money out of such things.

 

[peggy-sue]

I would say it very much depends on how much you want to keep the tooth.

As for extractions, they are far easier to do on top teeth than bottom ones, and less is likely to go "wrong" with a top tooth extraction than a lower one.

I have had root canal work done just recently, to save one of my back molars.
I like food with lots of different textures, and food is important in my life.
I want the full use of as many of my teeth as I can keep.

I only needed an anaesthetic jab on two on the 4 sessions I needed for the treatment; the sessions were quite long. About an hour and a half on two occassions, and so not that easy to cope with in terms of being a bit "overdone" afterwards.
A simple extraction would just be one session. And might be a lot cheaper.

 

[barbc56]

I just had an extraction and a bone graft several weeks ago. My dentist in consultation with the oral surgeon/periodontist wanted to save the tooth but it just was not possible. Surprisingly, I did okay but was instructed to really take it easy for a few days.

I was also on an antibiotic both before and after the procedure and found that I was feeling better. I thought it might be because of a reduction in inflammation and that may have been part of it but the original reason I was on the antibiotic was an abscess under the tooth that was going into the bone. So the abscess may have been causing more flaring but who knows as there could be so many factors involved.

Dental care is very important and I did not realize how tied up it is with your health especially heart disease.


Is giving you a choice of which procedure?

Barb

 

[Cindi]

I would say it very much depends on how much you want to keep the tooth.

As for extractions, they are far easier to do on top teeth than bottom ones, and less is likely to go "wrong" with a top tooth extraction than a lower one.

I have had root canal work done just recently, to save one of my back molars.
I like food with lots of different textures, and food is important in my life.
I want the full use of as many of my teeth as I can keep.

I only needed an anaesthetic jab on two on the 4 sessions I needed for the treatment; the sessions were quite long. About an hour and a half on two occassions, and so not that easy to cope with in terms of being a bit "overdone" afterwards.
A simple extraction would just be one session. And might be a lot cheaper.

Thanks yes,i also thought 2-3 sessions might be needed for root canal which may be tiring for me. Which anaesthetic did you use?Thanks.

 

[Cindi]

I just had an extraction and a bone graft several weeks ago. My dentist in consultation with the oral surgeon/periodontist wanted to save the tooth but it just was not possible. Surprisingly, I did okay but was instructed to really take it easy for a few days.

I was also on an antibiotic both before and after the procedure and found that I was feeling better. I thought it might be because of a reduction in inflammation and that may have been part of it but the original reason I was on the antibiotic was an abscess under the tooth that was going into the bone. So the abscess may have been causing more flaring but who knows as there could be so many factors involved.

Dental care is very important and I did not realize how tied up it is with your health especially heart disease.


Is giving you a choice of which procedure?

Barb

dentist advises me to have a root canal procedure but will accept if i wish extraction. thanks.

 

[Cindi]

What do you think about dangers of root canals that Hal Huggins mentions?Thanks.

 

[peggy-sue]

I didn't bother to fuss about what anaesthetic was used - it was just a local.
I actually forgot to fuss about the kind used - my over-riding but completely rational terror of needles saw to that.

I tend to trust dentists far more than doctors with needles though. They don't have access to really nasty things that might end up in the syringes by accident. And they don't dismiss my ME.

what's a "Hal Huggins"?

 

[Cindi]

Thanks..
Below is site of Hal huggins
https://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/

 

[peggy-sue]

Sounds a bit dodgy-new-agey to me, not really my sort of thing.
I'm not remotely worried about my mercury fillings.
I'm slightly more worried that my parents gave me mercury to play with when I was a child.

I haven't noticed any dentists or dental nurses being amongst the crowds of PWME I have encountered on forums over the years
Plenty of doctors and nurses and lawyers - loads of professions.

If mercury were a big problem, dentists and dental nurses would feature prominently among sufferers, because they get exposed to far more mercury than almost any other profession.

I remember back in the early '80s, my Dad's receptionists and nurses were complaining because they had been banned from wearing Scholl sandals to work, because of the high levels of mercury found in dental nurse's toenails.

 

[raymondkroberts]

This is really a tough situation you are going through for sure and you need to make the best of the decision so as to get through this. I think both tooth extraction and root canal are sort of last resort if you are suffering from extensive decay and cavities that might spread to root, and nerves causing infection, swelling and pain. I think root canal have more of persisting pain than extraction as it is a kind of minor surgery using local anesthesia. Dental treatments such that of teeth implants can act as exact match to your missing teeth and obviously provide more strength and stability. Do check out with your dentist for more options, thanks.

 

[peggy-sue]

Tooth implants also involve a great deal of work taking up to 6 months, because of getting the titanium rods implanted in the bone and of course - the incredible expense!

I asked about one and was quoted about £2,000 plus.

My root canal work, (which saved my molar) along with replacement of two (amalgam, I'm not worried about it and can't afford white ones) fillings and a replacement gold crown and scale and polish cost me £238. It was about 7 hours of work altogether, spread over 5 appointments.

The root canal work wasn't painful, the local worked fine. The only trouble was being worked on for an hour and a half at a time.

 

[sianrecovery]

After years of pain and infection with root-filled teeth, I would never have another. Personally, I think Huggins, Strickland et al are right. As for anesthesia, products with adrenaline-based products in are notoriously hard on ME patients, and vasoconstriction compromises blood supply and healing. If you have an extraction, talk to the dentist about taking some of the periodontal ligament to avoid potential for infection and 'dry socket'.

 

[sianrecovery]

Ps I don't know how to post this link, but if you goggle Scott Forsgreen's site betterhealthguy, his most recent newsletter has a section on his experience with these issues that I found useful. At the end of that section, in the 'learn more' bit, is a video of Wes Strickland lecturing to an audience largely of other dentists on what he finds doing oral surgery on patients with long-term dental infections.

 

[minkeygirl]

I never use anesthetic with Epi. I make them put it in my chart.

 

[JalapenoLuv]

Probably too late to help but it depends on your immune response. According to my dentist my immune system is low exactly like what diabetics get. The end result is that root canals reinfect and always fail. So far I have had five root canaled teeth extracted. When dentists tried to save them with apicalectomies they always fair and reinfect. If you can't get a fever and head colds I would opt for the extraction.

 

[dcinelli]

I don't know what kind of dentist everyone else is using, but I have used a dentist that ONLY does root canals. One visit, about 1 1/2 hours. Of course then there's the crown that must to be placed over the tooth otherwise it will eventually break and need to be extracted anyway. But my regular dentist makes crowns with a 3D printer right in his office. So one visit for the crown. I guess I have good dentists. But I'm going through this decision right now. It's a back molar but I've lost a few already and I need it for chewing. Can't decide what to do. What are the dangers of root canal for people with CFS? I know we are told we shouldn't have them but I already have 2 implants.