Root Canal and IV Sedation

[Paul126]

Hi

I fall into the category of someone who is really scared about dental treatment (especially injections and drilling), but have had regular treatment over the last 20 or so years, since discovering IV sedation. Not scared of that at all

I have recently been told, following lots of pain in a left hand top molar - and a really bad abscess under this tooth over Christmas - that I am advised to have root canal treatment.

However, my dentist wants to refer me to a consultant at the local hospital (in Brighton) for treatment and says they wouldn't consider IV sedation, as the procedure is too complex and involves too much "equipment" in the mouth...and that you need to be compliant during the process.

The alternative is to have an extraction, which I could have under sedation.

The major infection is gone now (following 500mg Amoxillin tabs for a couple of weeks), but the tooth is still sensitive when I brush it and I feel it's "grumbling" all the time, as I'm always aware of it....

I found your site this morning and wondered if you could advise whether you would be able to tackle this under IV sedation? I've also been reading about nitrous oxide inhalation, which, I guess would be my next best option.

I don't really want to lose a tooth, but I just know I'd find it nigh on impossible to go through with this procedure.....

I have to make a relatively quick decision I think, as am off skiing on 20th March and have an intuition that this tooth is going to ruin my holiday....

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Paul Bailey

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post.

It is true that once people are sedated they tend to close their mouths and for root canal on back teeth, you need the mouth to be fully open so that the files and drills can work in a straight line without bending.

So to go round this problem, we always use a mouth prop which is a piece of kit that holds the mouth open and alows us to isolate the tooth with a rubber dam and do the root canal treatment.

We will need to see your tooth before we can say if we can do it or not and you can book a consultation by calling the reception team on 0208 547 9997.