I have had a lot of dental work done. I have had 3 root canals and of course they told me to eventually get a crown. Well I couldn't afford crowns so all 3 of those teeth ended up cracking and I had to have them extracted. Never again will I have a root canal because I can't afford $500 for a crown.
If anything I'll have the tooth pulled. The last one I had pulled which was on the bottom right.. I ended up getting a really bad dry socket. That hurt worse than the extraction. I didn't know why I was hurting so much but I did look up symptoms on the internet.
I had the whitish bone showing that should have never been there, a god awful nasty taste in my mouth and a huge hole. Of course the pain happened on the weekend so I had to put an ice pack on my face but it didn't help and meds helped for 2 hours tops. I couldn't sleep at all. I have never been so glad to see a Monday in my life. I had it packed twice once for a day and I had to had it changed the next day. Then kept in for a week and taken out.
This happened around Thanksgiving last year. We went to Red Robin out of town to pick up my brother and his dog so they could be here for Thanksgiving and I was upset because the food was good but I still tasted the stuff from the pack as my dry socket was still packed with gauze and medicine.
I won't have another root canal if I am told that I need one I won't bother because I will never be able to afford a crown. Those teeth could have been saved if I had not got a root canal. I do need to go for a cleaning now as I am due. Sorry that was long.
You would
always need a crown after a root canal -- I would think your dentist would have told you of this? I needed a crown just now and didn't get a root canal -- it was just a super deep filling. But still needed the crown. You shouldn't really go more than 3-5 weeks with a temporary crown. They're made to be... well... temporary, lol, so they definitely WILL crack. I dunno how your teeth could've been saved w/o a root canal? If the dentist felt it warranted one, your only other option would've been get them pulled and get an implant or a bridge, etc? The good thing is the permanent crowns that are specifically made for you should ideally last you forever, or at least a REALLY long time. My dentist said his mother had one in 1951 and didn't need it replaced until 1985 and those were the older crowns. Nowadays they're made great. No more metal mouth! lol. So it's not like they're not worth the cost technically speaking.
I was sooo glad to get the temporary crown off - I don't know how people wait for a year sometimes or more with temps! The glue stuff bothered me and I couldn't eat on that side. But I paid for it in advance with Care Credit so the crown was already paid for. My mom has gotten root canals and stuff and then waited a year or more to get the permanent crown and made it worse.
My total ended up being around $2000 for like 5 fillings and one crown. Which is like $169/month I believe, interest free. I'm probably going to do the bleaching for $250 too after my invisalign, or they said I could use the invisalign trays as bleaching trays.
I heard dry socket is TERRIBLE btw, I so feel for you.