[Stacey42]

I've had 3 root canals. None required a crown but were just given the standard filling repair.

I have been known to have hysterics in the dentists chair because of a really horrible root canal experience with a really horrible dentist. The other two were by great ones and were after the horrible ones. They numb you up really well (which horrible dentist failed to do), then they drill down into the nerve area & take out the dead nerve using all these little files which are sort of creepy sounding in your head but not painful, then they put some stuff in the root, put a temp cover over it and you go away for a week & then come back, get numbed again, the temp is removed, the stuff that was put in the tooth is taken out, a post is put in and then a permanent filling or is put on. It's not a pleasant experience, mostly because you have to keep your mouth open forever but if you are sufficiently numbed it isn't that bad either.

Each of mine took about an hour, maybe a little bit more, for the first visit & about the same or a little less for the second. It's longer with a crown because of all the fitting & refitting & impressions they need to make the temp & permanent crown. My dentist said needing a crown depends on how much tooth enamel you have for them to work with. I had plenty each time fortunately so they were able to give me a regular filling on the tooth.

I have a crown because I broke a tooth. It took much longer than the root canals did.