How do root canals look?

I have gum disease, need root canals, and bridges, have pain HELP?

• I didn't take as good of care of my health as I should have and now i'm paying big time. First: I have gum disease. I have pockets as deep as 5 mm. I read somewhere that 5mm or less can still be treated by scalling and root planning. Is that true? Is it possible that I can still save my gums? I have had 3 teeth pulled already. Two of them were the result of me having Post Traumatic Trigeminal Neauralgia and not knowing what it was. The teeth could have been saved but i didnt' known however they can always be bridged. I already had two root canals and need another one or two or three done.. I've got decay galore :( The dentist won't know for sure how many other teeth need to be root canaled until he takes out all of the cavities but I'm in it 100%. I have pain coming from the back on the left but can't figure out if it is a tooth that has already been root canaled or not. Can they be saved by a retreatment even if I have gum disease? HELP I'm 33 and don't want to wear dentures. Is there hope for me? Some other things I was on some heavy duty meds, (Percocet/Vicodin/Suboxone) so I never ever felt the pain. I was eating sugar like crazy. Once all the opiates were out of me, that's when the pain came, so i was probably in pain but the p.k. blocked it,. I bought a water pick thing and been brushing and flossing. Is gum disease stoppable? How can I find out what tooth is causing the pain? It's like a jabbing nerve pain. I feel so bad. All I can think of is my gums and my teeth saying HELP US PLEASE and those little bacterias eating me up I have to stop them. I'm going to easity spend 11 grand - 13 grand on this. Would you do it or would you say screw it and get them pulled and get dentures? I don't want those. I may even spend 14 grand but I only have about 12 but it's not money that I have it's CREDIT CARDS. I don't even have a job but I got my credit cards,. I've been going to the dentist every day they have been open for the past two weeks. The dentist said his first goal is to get me stable. Is that a good thing? What does he mean? He then said I had gum disease. He said also I have a bunch of problems in my mouth and it is going to cost me some money to fix it. How can i Help him help me find what tooth is causing the pain? In the back tooth (the one that was root canaled about three years ago) on the exray it shows a shadow on the root. He said it may be scar tissue? It could also be another infection right? What should i do? O UCH I'm in so much pain right now. I wish i had my pain pills but I can't take th em because I got addicted to them so i'm going through this with a bunch load of PAIN Can a root canaled tooth be used for a bridge? ANY info / help on how to control gum disease with pockets up to 5 mm please help?

• Answer:

  Wow, that's quite a long question. Yes, 5 mm pockets can be cleaned with a deep scaling and root planing. keep brushing and flossing and get frequent cleanings.A root canaled tooth can be used as an abutment tooth in a bridge. Of course it's a good thing that your dentist wants to get you stabilized. That should mean he wants to fix the emergency stuff first, like root canals and filling, plus get your gums healthy. Then you can work on bridges and oral hygiene instructions. I also think you should have cleanings every 3 months instead of every 6 months. You need to be followed closely at first to make sure your gums are healing and that you are able to do a good job at home.