I just wanted to also let you know I had my pm okay extra med meds from my dentist to take a few weeks after the procedures done. With RSD, there is an increased sensitivity to pain, and it helps to get through it by doing this. Also, I prefer to be have teeth pulled under anesthia. Not only because of fear feeling pain, but because of my stress level going up. Stress makes my RSD flare up more. Of course check with drs to make sure they are all okay with this. I hope your friend is doing okay. Soft hugs to you and her.

I've had to have a LOT of dental work done this year. I've had 7 teeth pulled and two permanent bridges put in. For all of this I've had them sedate me so I don't even remember anything.

I told my dentist root canals were not an option. I've read there is a risk of spread when it comes to root canals and it is better to just have the teeth pulled. I have also read up a lot on root canals and I don't like what I read. A root canal takes care of the pain (assuming there is no spread) but it doesn't kill the infection in the tooth. Over time this can result in a weakened tooth and possible spread of that infection (this is for everyone...not specific to patients with RSD). I read up a lot on this after (this year) a tooth I had a root canal in when I was a child (many many years pre-rsd) snapped off at the gum line. Last month the same thing happened to my mom where her two front teeth just snapped off at the gum line. Both of those teeth had had root canals.

So...I personally wouldn't recommend a root canal and I would recommend trying to find a sedation dentist to do the work. I feel much more comfortable going that route...if for no other reason than I am MUCH less stressed (and we all know how stress affects our RSD). I am by no means an expert on any of these things...just relating my experience and my thoughts on why I went the way I did regarding root canals and dental work.

It depends on your dentist. Mine puts an antibiotic ointment into the tooth before the rods and before he puts either a temp or permanent crown on. I have had a ton of root canals done. All my molars are crowned. The bad thing is with crps my jaw bone on the bottom is shifting some so my teeth arent aligned right anymore. I am almost to the point of telling them to sedate me and pull them. I haven't quite gotten there though. Plus I'm not sure if my dental coverage will cover it.

I just had the same tooth worked on in July. I had a crown prep done and ended up with my first root canal a few weeks later and then the crown put on. My pain pump does not cover head aches, tooth aches, or stomach aches. So I ended up taking over 300 pills of Advil plus some 800mg of ibuprofen that the dentist sent home with me. Amoxicillin 500mg was also needed and this helped the most even though I was only on it for 3 days as far as the pain leading to the root canal. Last month I had the molar behind it crowned too. They had to cut the old gold crown off. They did not know of the decay because X-rays cannot see thru a gold crown so like others were saying about CRPS people having dry mouth or their ph slightly changing, you really have to get in for cleanings 2-4 times a year if possible.

Now to answer the question about the pain spreading. For me the short answer is no but be prepared to be miserable until that tooth is fixed. If doing a crown and you have to do a root canal you might want to pay the extra charge of getting the crown back to the dentist faster. Normally you get a temporary put in for 3 weeks until the real crown is made and sent to your dentist's office. I did not know I could of done that and I sure wish someone would of told me. All those pills I took had my stomach hurting more than my CRPS pain at times. After the crown and root canal were done, it took about a week before the pain(tooth) was gone. The second crown went smoothly and did not require a root canal.

Look into MI paste on how it can help. I put it on and can feel the pain melting pretty fast. Oasis mouthwash is my favorite of the dry mouth washes on the market but it can be difficult to find in some stores. Remember to brush your tongue and if you are having a horrible pain day and the last thing you want to do is stand in front of a mirror for 2 minutes then at least dry brush quickly.

There are some pretty bad horror stories from CRPS people who lost the battle with their teeth.

Good luck