painful root canal

[bigkev414]

I have had two sessions with the dentist to do a root canal on a front upper tooth and both times he had to stop because of excruciating pain and has only been able to go into the canal about 1/3 of the depth.
He tried everything he could think of including little injections straight into the hole he was working on but after he pushed the little file in a couple of millimeters the pain shot through me again and he had to stop and seal it up. I have to go back in a week for another try and he says we just go slowly and eventually get it done but doesn't seem sure it will work.
If it doesn't because of the pain could he leave it partially done if the discomfort in the tooth is not too bad, and I could just live with it?
Anybody else have this problem with pain?

[HelpinUtah]

Another thing to remember is that as long as there is still infection in there and they do not treat you with antibiotics first, you will feel pain when they do the root canal.  The dentists I work with wait for the infection to go down before they even try.  They usually start someone on antibiotics with pain control until the tooth's infection has gone down and then they do the root canal.  That might be the problem?  Just a suggestion.

[Angel6809]

Wow so you took my advice about the stick of dynamite huh :-)  I think you mentioned it was an upper front tooth, so do you have a big hole there now?   Just out of interest is it noticeable when you smile and does it affect your chewing?

[bigkev414]

went to another dentist and he painlessly pulled the tooth out in 20 seconds! Unbelievable!
I suffered for over a year with the old one - everything he did st.......d up. Why did I wait so long. Just thought I would let you know I've learned a lesson - get another opinion.

[Angel6809]

No no no really I've never heard that one before.   (Okay I'm lying, I have heard it before but hey I never get tired of hearing it).   :-)     I know that there are different types of numbing substances that can be used.   The first time my endodontist started treatment he used a different sort than at the second treatment.   The medication at my second session wasn't as strong and didn't make me go as numb as the first one and definitely wore off a lot faster too, possibly because he knew he had already destroyed the nerves in the tooth so the second time didn't require to be as numbed up.   You could always ask your dentist to try using a stick of dynamite to numb things up......now that would definitely take care of the tooth once and for all!  

[bigkev414]

Thanks for helping me and for replying - you're and angel! (I bet you've never heard that one before..groan!)
I will persist with it and speak to my dentist about the nerve and some extra medication. Going back next Wednesday, and I will let you know how things go. Thanks again, Kev

[Angel6809]

Seems a bit strange that he is not able to numb the area so much that you don't feel anything.  I have heard that sometimes injections in the upper jaw don't seem to work as well as they do in the lower jaw, but your level of pain seems to be quite intense by the sound of it.   Maybe he needs to use a stronger numbing medication.   I do know what you mean though about when the files are pushed into the canals.   I recently had treatment through an endodontist who is a specialist in doing root canals.   When he pushed one of the files into a canal I did feel pain and jumped slightly, even though he had numbed me well and truly.   When he saw me jump he asked if I had felt it, to which I said YES !    He said this showed the presence of a live nerve so if I remember correctly he went in with his drill and destroyed the nerve.   He left it for a couple of minutes and went back into the same canal with the file and I got ready to jump again because I assumed there would still be pain.   But seeing as the nerve had been destroyed a couple of minutes earlier, I felt nothing the second time.   He asked if I felt anything then and I said no and he said he obviously had destroyed the live nerve tissue then.   The reason you're feeling pain is because of live nerves in the area.

From what I know about root canal treatment, the job has to be finished properly because if canals aren't cleaned and filled properly, bacteria can still be allowed to grow which can cause even bigger problems.   Ask him to give you a double dose of numbing medication..........good luck with it.......let me know how you get on.