My root canal last year took 2+ hours! The first was to clean the infection. He had to drill through a new crown. During drilling, the calcium buildup inside the tooth was too much, so I had to go back a second time, drilling drilling for 45-1hr minutes each time. Then, he said it's good enough, too much calcium build up inside. They will not drill over an hour, the numbing will wear out after 1 hour.
It was just traumatic. It wasn't the endodontist experience, it was the tooth.
I don't blame him, I blame the dentist that did a messy job with my new crown that caused the infection.

McLean Endodontics Dr Chun. Excellent.

Anonymous wrote:Be very careful about going to Dr. Weber. There are some people who swear by him (whether they are real or not I don't know ) but if you check his stats anywhere for example on Health Grades he is rated by patients as perhaps one of the worst in Maryland, for both lack of competency, ethics, and personality.

+1 Agree with this. Completely screwed up my root canal and had to be repeated.

Anonymous wrote:Dr Melrod on M Street - hands down - his practice is limited to endodontics, so you'll need a dentist for the crown if you need one after. I have had 8 root canals over 10 yrs - and an insane amount of dental work beyond that - Dr Melrod is the absolute best dentist I have ever encountered in terms of technical skills and bedside manner. Just to put your mind at ease - I despise dental work and now prefer root canals with him to fillings with any dentist - they are painless, easy, and low stress. I am a horrible patient (jumpy, I get hot, I complain) and Dr Melrod has never batted an eyelash. I don't recommend doctors or dentists very often, but I can't say enough good things about this man. He isn't cheap, but root canals aren't cheap in general and I have learned my lesson in trying to ever save money on dental work. (202) 659-5986

I'm so sorry that you've had 8 root canals over the years. Any idea why? Also, any experiences with dental implants? I would like someone that will guarantee that an implant will last for 70 years

Gamson. PERIOD!

Dr. Lee in Tyson's.

bad thing about root canals is they are covered by a crown so you can't see the decay and have to trust your dentist to catch any decay that developes underneath the crown if they don't that tooth is a goner.

This isn't helpful, but I had my "best" root canal in Kiev, Ukraine last winter. I have had four root canals total (because I grind my teeth and destroyed back molars, but have since gotten a night guard to prevent this).

Anyway, I had my first two root canals in America, and then one in Germany, and the American/German ones were OK, both involving a few steps (regular dentist for diagnosis, endodontist for root canal, back to regular dentist for crown). This was time consuming, and I really don't like the crowned molars, but I guess they are well done (though the German dentist took a lot more time, and his crown is prettier; he also had a lot of criticism about the American dentists' crowns). I was in Kiev for work when my latest molar exploded in pain, and was really apprehensive about going to a Ukrainian dentist, especially when the guy turned out to be 25 years old. He brought his equally young co-dentist in to translate since he didn't speak English, and it turned out to be the most fun root canal ever! The guy refused to crown my molar, and insisted on filling it some special way, which I was sure would crumble out, but it looks fine and I am now glad to have a natural tooth there instead of a crown. The real thing that impressed me was that the Ukrainian dentist made me a special kind of night guard that actually forces my teeth into alignment, and when I wake up I have no jaw pain at all, which backs up his assertion that I would stop grinding with his special kind of night guard. (The German and American dentists' night guards were OK, but never stopped me from clenching like this).

Dr Finnerty in Arlington. Regular dentist, years of experience. He's done 2 root canals on me.

Anonymous wrote:Dr Tony Hsu of Bethesda did mine. It was an emergency and my son's pediatric dentist referred me. She said that's where she had her root canal. They took me the same day. It was painless and he was gentle. He answered all my questions and I never felt rushed. His staff was friendly and pleasant. Overall, an extremely well run office.

Dr Hsu did mine 5 years ago. Extremely gentle and very patient. I was extremely anxious and he and his staff were phenomenal!

Be very careful about going to Dr. Weber. There are some people who swear by him (whether they are real or not I don't know ) but if you check his stats anywhere for example on Health Grades he is rated by patients as perhaps one of the worst in Maryland, for both lack of competency, ethics, and personality.

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Gamson in Bethesda. He is AMAZING! I am a chicken when it comes to dental stuff. But, he really puts you at ease. He is so kind and gentle. He promised it wouldn't hurt and it didn't. I LOVE him.

He gets great reviews online as well: http://www.yelp.com/biz/edward-k-gamson-dds-ms-bethesda

Here is a link to his website: http://www.gamsondds.com/

Another dr Gamson fan. Had two root canals with him. He is absolutely amazing. Kind and gentle and patient and puts you at ease. I never had any issues with the toto canals either.

I used Dr. Orgel with RCT endodontics in Bowie, MD two years ago. They also have an office in Silver Spring. I had a really good experience and there was no pain in getting my root canal at all.

Anonymous wrote:Dr Stritmatter in Centreville, VA was very good and does a lot of root canals.

He's great. Both for me and DD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am freaking about how long a root canal will take. Is it true that some of your procedures were less then an hour? Let me know. I think I can do this if it only takes this long.

Thanks,

Freaking out

Make sure you see an endodontist. When people have bad experiences it is often because they go to a regular dentist who doesn't do root canals often, doesn't have the right equipment and isn't good at them.

Yes this this this!

I am 8:44 (the dentist).