r/Toothfully

I had a root canal two months ago, and have since had the permanent crown placed (placed over 2 weeks ago).

Since my root canal I have had pain when chewing. Especially with soft sticky foods. I can eat Doritos and crunchy sourdough bread without pain. But if it’s a soft cake, I’m in pain. Chewing gum, pain. Beans… pain.

Why?!

I have been in contact with the endodontist from the beginning and he keeps saying to give it more time. Now he has said to wait until August. He hasn’t bothered to see me or felt any urgency to see me. 🫠

I have had this exact pain since the root canal. So two months with zero improvement. Only $7,000 poorer. 🫠

I need 4 fillings done in total and back in May I went to an appointment to try get them done. I managed to go in, sit in the chair and all that and the second my dentist was like okay we are going to give you an injection now I lost all control. All the tears I had building up that day whilst commuting there, walking from the station there and sat in the waiting room all came out at once. My dentist applied for me to get nhs iv sedation but I was rejected.

I have another appointment later this month and i just want to cancel so bad. And before anyone says "oh you need to get your anxiety under control" believe me I know i do (i have 6 missing teeth for a reason) but I dont know how. My bf takes propranolol and said I should go to the GP to get a prescription but I dont have an official diagnosis and that would take probably months knowing the nhs. And would a 10mg pill even do enough?

For 10 days before the appointment me and my bf are going to be very busy as his family is on holiday so we are in charge of taking care of the house and the dog + I have my part time job. They come back the day before my appointment so I literally have no time to mentally prepare for it.

Would they except anxiety as a legitimate reason to push back an appointment?

If I go to the appointment and I end up uncontrollably crying again could they appeal for sedation?

Im just so lost on what do to, to the point i am considering spending hundreds of pounds going private for iv sedation.

Hi everyone,

Had a root canal done on my right lower (third from the back) tooth over multiple sittings because there was pus/infection before the treatment.

It's been a little over a week since the root canal and permanent filling. Initially, the pain was only while biting, but now it's become constant and throbbing. I'd rate it around 9/10. The tooth feels slightly higher than the others, hurts when I press or tap on it, and there's a little swelling in the gum, but no cheek swelling or fever.

This has happened before after the treatment too—the pain improved and then came back again. I've taken Ketorol DT, and previously ibuprofen/aceclofenac, but the pain is still severe.

Has anyone experienced something similar after a root canal? Did it turn out to be normal healing, a high bite, or a failed root canal? What was the final diagnosis and treatment?

My dentist is not available for 2 days so any suggestions for the pain relief.

My front tooth was fixed with a composite filling 2 years ago. Since then, I feel a sour taste only when that tooth touches the other tooth while biting.

The X-ray is normal, and I have no pain. One dentist said I need a root canal, but also said the nerve is fine.

Has anyone had this before? What was the cause?

Hi guys, i’m 1 week from getting all 4 wisdom teeth out, just want to start my prep early, what sort of foods should i buy (planning on jelly, custard, apple sauce etc) but it there anything else specific i should buy to help with the healing process? (Foods, meds, other general things that have helped you in recovery).

Any pre surgery tips or words of encouragement also apprichiated!

Hello Everyone

Id like to ask how much pain should you consider reasonable rom an injection before you can say it was done badly or you were handled badly?

Or do you just have to accept if you got numb the dentist did their job.

I had an injection a couple of weeks ago and maybe being a phobic i was just trying to kid myself with all the stories of it being painless to make myself feel better.

The injection (and the treatment after, but focusing on the injection) was absolutely NOT painless, so please dont suggest something ive just experienced for myself is. Ive just felt it and it isnt.

How much pain is legitimately "normal" to put up with?

Thank you

I was homeless for decades and due to that I never had much experience with dentists/dental health. I am in a better place in my life including having housing. I've been getting really bad pain and I know I need to go get this assessed so they can help fix it but I am so embarrassed and worried about judgement also I have horribly crippling anxiety. These things are already hard enough on their own but put together it's even worse. I want to go get this figured out but I'm so scared and so nervous about all of it (the sounds, the feeling of the pressure of tools against my teeth etc) and I don't know what options are offered for anxious people or what the effect of the options are. What can be done with all these fears and anxiety? When I was much much younger they put me under for wisdom teeth removal. Could they do that again? Do they even do that for something as small as a root canal?

In April, I had see a new dentist who told me I needed 5 fillings (3 of which were redo fillings due to me grinding my teeth). I got them done. Turned out to be a huge mistake. I immediately started with pain when biting and sensitivity. When I went for a follow up he said give it more time and wear a night guard. I got a second opinion who said the same thing. Then a month later, my right side started having severe pains. The sensitivity never went away on any side. I ended up needing two root canals (1 on the bottom because they thought it was the issue but wasn’t and one on the top that was necrotic and dead). I still have the left side fillings that are super sensitive. The endodontist wants to give that side more time to calm down and didn’t want to evaluate it. I made an appointment in two weeks to follow up on the left side. Can someone tell me that the left side could get better or not? I am terrified of having pain like that again and I had to miss work. Thanks!

**Part 2: What I learned that I couldn't fit in my first post (the things I wish someone had told me sooner)**

My first post about how I finally got better after 15+ years of chronic illness reached far more people than I ever expected, and my inbox filled with the same sort of questions asked a load of the same ways: what did you do to fix it in more detail +what would you actually do differently if you were me? So instead of retelling my story, I want to use this post to answer that properly.

I'll be honest first about why this is hard for me.. After being gaslit by so many medical professionals over the years, I have a real angst of being gaslit again by strangers, because the trolls on here are super… - ouch :/ But the response to my last post showed me how many people are stuck in the exact place I was, so I feel I owe more of those people the parts I left out.

This is my personal experience, not medical advice. Please do your own research and ALWAYS work with qualified professionals. And if you think cavitations are BS please do not read on 🙄

**Lesson one: "normal results" is not the same as "nothing is wrong."**

For years I treated a normal blood test as a closed door. It isn't. Standard tests and standard imaging only show what they are designed to show, and they are not designed to find everything.. The chronic jawbone infection that turned out to be central to my case never appeared on a single standard dental X-ray, 6 MRIs (with and without contrast), or blood panel/ urine/stool in over a decade plus. Normal results often just mean the right test hasn't been run yet. Or cough cough... normal results can mean the avergage of the people whom the bloods have been drawn against are not superman optimal but that is a story for another day. Let's look at HbA1c for years my "average" was "normal" NO- my average was exactly an average which is the sum of crazy high's and crazy low's... yes, looked "normal" but was anything but.. I was hypoglycaemic and it was only getting worse…

**Lesson two: the right scan matters more than the number of scans.**

I had endless imaging over the years. What actually changed things was one specific type of scan, a 3D Cone Beam CT (CBCT) Full Face, read by the right person. If I could go back, I would have stopped repeating the same tests hoping for a different answer and pushed much earlier for imaging that could actually see the area in question. Volume is not the same as the right tool and having the right specialist is key. As said in my prior post, I went to Neurologists, Migraine specialists, Many dentists, Chiropractors , Neck specialists doctors, Mold specialists doctors, Lyme Specialist functional Medicine Doctors and the list goes on - the works ... yet none were the right person who could recognise the issues.

**Lesson three: get a second set of eyes on the actual images, not just the report.**

A scan is only as good as the person reading it. I made a point of seeking additional, experienced opinions on my CBCT rather than accepting the first interpretation (which was told there was NOTHING wrong with it), and that is what surfaced something that had been overlooked for yearssssssssssss. Ask for your actual images, not just the summary, and consider having them reviewed by someone who specifically knows what they are looking for... which from my experience, there is not many, even if they call themselves a "specialist in the field". (I used a place online and remote for my other opinion, and it was an online review that figured out the 15 year problem)

**Lesson four: this is not anti-medicine, and the answer can come from inside it.**

I want to be really clear, because this gets misread. The person who identified my issue from the CT scan was a mainstream, Western-trained Dental doctor. Not a fringe practitioner, not a theory off the internet. The lesson was never "abandon western medicine." It was "keep going until you find the clinician within it who will actually look properly." Those doctors exist. The problem is most are not trained to look in this particular place, so you may have to search for the one who is and that thinks outside of the box. Or looks to a different scan (a lot of dentists don’t do this)

**Lesson five: chronic, hidden infection can look like a dozen unrelated conditions.**

This is the insight I most want people to think about. For 15 years my symptoms were treated as separate problems: migraines here, blood sugar there, histamine reactions, chronic sinus issues, fatigue, gut problems, all in my head (eyeroll here with a yada yada). Nobody connected them (except for one person who is yes woowoo and intuitive but it is so hard to weave this into the story for it to all make sense- if you want to know more about this I can DM). What I have come to believe is that a single hidden source of chronic inflammation can present as many different illnesses at once, which is exactly why it gets missed. If you have a long, scattered list of symptoms that no one can tie together, that pattern itself might be the clue. AKA Have you had any teeth pulled?

**Lesson six: write everything down, and stop apologising in appointments.**

The dismissal does something quiet and corrosive .. You start shrinking your own story, changing it, make it seem not as bad, hiding how bad it really is, apologising for taking up time etc. I kept a written record of my symptoms and my history, and took a lot of PHOTOS, and walking in with that changed how seriously I was taken. Once they would see the PHOTOS of my face constantly swelling you could not debate me. You are not being difficult by advocating for yourself. You are doing the one thing that might save you years...

**What changed for me.**

I cannot prove causation and I will not pretend to. I am not saying this is behind everyone's illness or that it will work for you. I am only reporting what happened in my own body after surgery to clean out the infection: no migraines since, after losing half my months for over a decade. Hypoglycaemia episodes resolved overnight (still really blows my mind). Histamine and fragrance reactions dramatically reduced (but gosh that is so smelly and awful anyway, c'mon guys/gals please don't wear that rubbish it is just like smoking). Sinus pressure largely gone. Energy back. Foods I could not tolerate for years, totally manageable again- AKA gluten- like what? I can eat italian cakes with a lot of gluten and not have a swollen face migraine and stomach pain- it is real but very wild.

**Why I keep posting.**

If you have investigated everything else and you are still stuck, it may be worth learning about 3D CBCT scans, cavitations, chronic jawbone infections, failed extraction sites, and root canal complications, and then finding a clinician who will take it seriously. The right doctor is out there. It took me 15 years and far too much money to find mine, and I do not want that for you. I do not want anyone to have to go through 1/10th of what I did.

I am not affiliated with anyone and I do not benefit if you read this. But like last time, if you want to know who I saw or what specifically worked for me, DM me and I am genuinely happy to share privately as I don't want this to seem like a spammy Reddit post. I want to help people not go through what I did, but I want to abide by Reddit rules and not overstep the mark. I have read every message.

To everyone who reached out after the first post, thank you, it was actually super emotional to read so many people having almost identical issues. I sort of wished, over the last few years I had people like myself to navigate this all with as it was really not a fun experience, and until you feel like as low and as crap and as in my pain as I would have - you just don't know what you just don't know...

So get the 3D Full Face CT Conebeam scan and if you got one, like I did and it was "fine" please get a second referral like I did. The place i went to was fully online remote and I think cheap. Also, if you are curious about the alternative lady that forecasted all my problems, I am happy to DM about her, I don't really know how to explain all that she does without being dismissed on Reddit. Happy healing. And yes your life can change once the root cause is found!

hi,
i have a question about healing and dry socket.
2hrs ago i finally got my down wisdom teeth pulled out,
i really wanna hit a bong after all that stress 😅 but dont want to mess up the healing.
Also, when does the blood should stop? my mouth gets full pretty quick, its not like blood full but u can see 50% maybe is.
Also 😅, what about nicotine pouches? and beer?
thank you for all the advice

I’m so nervous going back to dentist bc the last two fillings he did caused me pain after. I gave one month min time to heal to ensure it wasn’t just hurting from recent treatment.
Man. It hurts bad to bite down and it’s a side filling,so it’s not that I’m biting down on this.
Any experiences with this ?

Help! I had a tooth extraction 3 days ago, I noticed white stuff inside the gum socket, thought it was rice so I removed it. Would I be okay?????? I’m going mad!