Root Canal in Melbourne - Recommendations?

anastasiastarz on 20/02/2017 - 00:43

I've recently discovered a new world of pain, with no escape in sleep (there is no sleep). Been hurting since Tues, but I didn't think it was that bad, and I was going to see the dentist on the next Thurs anyway. Saturday night my jaw and head is killing me! Can't sleep. Sunday night we went up to the dental hospital, she put some ice on it and I nearly died! It's the molar right at the back, and I need a root canal! For now I'm on anti-bio and pain killers.

Absolutely terrified as, earlier this week I was told I need to get my wisdom teeth out to, though they said they can do that. With the root canal, the dentist says I'll need to go private. But on their site they say they do endo? https://www.dhsv.org.au/public-dental-services/dental-servic…

I do have a HHC, and am a student. Should I call and ask again? Plan b/c would be to find the community-dental-clinic or go to the unimelb/monash dental school.

How did your dentist confirm you needed a root canal? Who did you see, and how was it?

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • Diji1 on 20/02/2017 - 01:56

    Get ready for an awful dental procedure.

  • kiribatian on 20/02/2017 - 02:39

    I feel your pain. It's amazing how debilitating toothaches can be.
    I had one in August last year. Tips- analgesia in steps. Paracetamol then ibuprofen (then endone). Antibiotics from GP if unable to get into dentist quickly.
    To fix a root canal is a costly procedure and is done in stages in even over a month.
    Dentist confirms it by inspection, testing for sensation and OPG.
    It's not something I would want a student to do.

    • anastasiastarz on 22/02/2017 - 01:11

      I've got paracetamol/codeine atm, but it's not enough. Shall look at the others! I want to layer/schedule them so there aren't times when I feel all the pain.

      • kiribatian on 22/02/2017 - 01:13

        I actually found nurofen to be the best when I had mine.
        Also go to a good dentist, don't just go to the cheapest

        • anastasiastarz on 22/02/2017 - 01:17

          Nuromol tablets? Which dentist did you see? Fingers crossed I get into the dental hospital though being a chicken I want to confirm it really is a root canal that I need.

        • kiribatian on 23/02/2017 - 01:29

          @anastasiastarz: Don't get sucked into nuromol. Should start with paracetamol and if that's not working use ibuprofen. That method worked for me. Plus nuromol is super expensive?

          Dentist- where are you located?

        • anastasiastarz on 23/02/2017 - 06:14

          @kiribatian: I'm in Melbourne.

        • kiribatian on 24/02/2017 - 16:51

          @anastasiastarz: Check PM

  • altomic on 20/02/2017 - 07:35

    Which uni? Monash used to have an on site subsidised dentist on their caulfield campus.any Monash student could use them. Not sure if it is still operating though.

    • anastasiastarz on 22/02/2017 - 01:10

      I saw that, think they're open to public too. Looking at unimelb.

  • foxmulder on 20/02/2017 - 08:33

    I heard water mix with salt may help. Don't drink it just out in your mouth. I'm no doctor though.

  • jason101 on 20/02/2017 - 08:54

    When I was 15 I required a root canal treatment, coming from a single parent family I used the government / school / trainee system. The process was a giant nightmare with students who didnt really know what they were doing (fair enough) drilling and filling the inside of my tooth), I can recall with agony actually getting a tooth file caught INSIDE my tooth - Months of pain, infection and nightmare eventually ended. But it was highly traumatic.

    Fast forward to 2 weeks ago (twenty plus years later from the first tooth) same issue different tooth. My usual dentist had been telling me the "nothing wrong" story for a long time (there was definitely something wrong) so they referred me to a root canal specialist. Within 3 minutes of diagnosing my problem I literally had my tooth cleared out internally, a temp filling in place and zero pain. I received a works estimate for $1200 plus the cost of a permanent cap which would be attended to my usual dentist.

    So having seen the "student" system vs the $400 per hour system - I think I'll happily save in other areas of living not dentistry.

    • anastasiastarz on 22/02/2017 - 01:13

      Gosh that sounds terrifying! I'm just getting it looked at tomorrow, though am really hoping to get into the hospital and not with a student.

  • Cluelessness11 on 20/02/2017 - 09:30
    +1

    I recently just finished up root canal treatment and it is soooo expensive, had to get 2 teeth done! I also need to get my wisdoms out, but waiting until next year so I can claim again on private health insurance.

    In regards to endo for root canal, I went to Dr Lindner in Frankston even though I live in Kew. It was well worth the drive to my few appointments as I've saved a few grand based compared to the other quote I got from an endo in the CBD.

    Good Luck!

    • anastasiastarz on 22/02/2017 - 01:14

      How did you get quotes? I tried to get quotes for another medical thing a while back and everyone want to do $200 consultations! Or is it more standard?

      • Cluelessness11 on 22/02/2017 - 11:46

        I sucked it up and went to the endodontist in Melbourne CBD area for the "consultation" that cost me around that price if not more from memory.
        Then I went back to dentist and was like it's too high and she gave me the rough price for the endodontist in Frankston, however still had to pay another consultation to confirm price.

    • hellosahu on 10/03/2017 - 20:09

      Hi cluelessness11,

      Please let us know what's the quote for frankston endodontics.
      In city it cost over 2k, and I need 2 re root canals.
      😥

  • rickxs on 20/02/2017 - 09:57

    its not awful ,just like a filling ——Camberwell Edontists ,not the cheapest

    ..

  • LKJ899 on 20/02/2017 - 13:11
    +1

    I think I'm too hungry….lol I read the subject as "Roti Canai" (Malaysian food)

    Depends on the cost….sometimes it's cheaper to get it done in Asia

  • outlander on 23/02/2017 - 02:08

    I've had some experience with the public dental system. Normally it takes a year to get seen, and if the work is outside their scope they refer you to a hospital, and you go on there waiting list which is often a year or longer. If its an emergency though, you can call up your local public dentist and say so. They'll ask a few questions like is the pain severe enough to wake you out of sleep etc. If they judge you as needing immediate help, they will book you in for an appointment in the next week or two. Anything more urgent than that needs to go to the hospital

    For pain relief, I found paracetamol to be worthless, ibuprofen to be good, and codeine to be the best. You can get panadeine extra from chemist warehouse, has 15mg of codeine (the legal over the counter limit). I would do two of those for moderate pain, and up to 4 for severe stuff. You build up a resistance to it though, so I would start on a low dose like half a tablet, and maintain that until it no longer works before moving up in dose. The limit with codeine tablets is the paracetamol that is included with them, so taking too many will kill your liver. Paracetamol OD is one of the most commonly seen cases in ER, very dangerous medicine.

    Alcohol, is good. Ten shots of vodka will really push the pain into the background. Cannabis, is just exceptional if you can find it, completely removes the pain. Cloves works a treat, bite down on that and it will numb everything, completely natural too.

    Above all, drink plenty of water. I found when I had teeth problems the slightest dehydration would bring forth a massive raging pain. I think the gums must shrink.

    If your curious as to how they get to the charges, this might be of interest
    https://www.medibankhealth.com.au/files/editor_upload/File/G…

    • anastasiastarz on 23/02/2017 - 06:22

      How many is too many? I'm on 500mg/30mg para/codeine (perspiration). 1x every 4hrs. I tried 1000mg para but I think that one has stopped working for me.

      Your third recommendation sounds great, though I'm worried about potential side effects…

      Cloves, the spice in pumpkin pie?

      • outlander on 23/02/2017 - 11:17

        LD50 of paracetamol is like 10g/day, but I wouldn't be going over 5. When I was taking them, I would take up to 4 at once, but I wasn't using them all day, just when the pain got really bad. However if you took 4 every 4 hours you'd be entering death territory as thats 12g/day

        Cloves, the spice in pumkin pie and the remedy for toothaches since medieval times.

        Feel free to message me if you want any more info

        • anastasiastarz on 23/02/2017 - 15:32

          I'm just taking one, we'll be ok. Only called the poisons hotline twice this week so far :P

          Thanks for all your thoughts!

        • outlander on 23/02/2017 - 18:42

          @anastasiastarz:

          LOL

          No problem. I know how bad tooth pain can be, so I sympathize. I've been hit in the face with a baseball bat and almost lost a finger, but the pain was nothing compared to what comes with wisdom teeth, which literally almost drove me to commit suicide to escape from it.

          I was waiting to get mine out for two years because of the cost, and I would estimate that I lost about a months worth of time because of the pain. Although the 1 or 2 grand to get it done privately seems like a lot compared to public, for the time you'll avoid spending in agony its worth it. Any 60 year old would pay a lot more than that to spend a month pain free as a woman in her 20's

          It did have one upside though. Going through that gave me some insight into why some people, especially old people, can be so mean. Being in constant pain seems to warp the mind a bit, makes people less caring about others. A valuable clue into the secret workings of society, haha!

          Anyway, I hope you find your relief soon.

          ps I have tips on how to get through the surgery too if your ever interested

        • anastasiastarz on 25/02/2017 - 00:10

          @outlander: Wisdom pain has yet to happen, though I'm on the list to get the bottom two out. Defs going under though, which they said is not possible for a root canal. Got my second consultation with the dental school (final year students) for that crazy molar. It has almost stopped hurting, and so I'm very concerned.

          Root is 2.5, remove and getting a new tooth is 5.5k - at the dental school. It is possible that the fear hurts more than the pain these days.

          That's an interesting insight! I would have thought it was because of society constantly changing and them not dealing with it. e.g. grandma's reaction to anything goes gender bathrooms or discovering one of the grandkids refuses to identify with being a girl or a boy. Wrapped in a cocoon of pain I'm a few weeks behind on work and life. Do I care less about others? I'm not sure, but I'm not working/productive as much and couldn't commit to my volunteering.

          Have you considered writing an ebook or blog with all these insights and tips/thought? :P I'm sure lots of people would find it helpful.

        • outlander on 25/02/2017 - 12:31

          @anastasiastarz:

          =)

  • donbot on 25/02/2017 - 19:36

    I was in your exact circumstance - back molar requiring root canal and wisdom teeth needed extraction.. and I had no cash as a student.

    $1200 or $1600 later (I can't remember) and I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed and the back molar at the same time. In the chair, but have no recollection of it (wasn't general anaesthetic though). Was much cheaper than a root canal and then paying to get wisdoms out. That was 11 years ago… So prices would have moved.

    Can feel that I'm missing a back molar, but no-one can see it, and causes me no irregularity chewing. I probably would have saved a tooth closer to the front, but back molar? Bah.

    Also - I found the best pain relief to be ibuprofen. Those little blue gel caps.. Advil. Advil and whisky.

    • anastasiastarz on 03/03/2017 - 00:34

      They ended up taking mine out, as it was a bit too damaged to save and challenging to do a root canal, and woah that root is deep! I can feel the hole atm though shall get a fake one. The guys at work there's a pirate club for those who have a gold tooth!

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