Choking On Water During Root Canal

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I went to a new dentist. They recommended fitting me for crowns due to my bruxism. I agreed and they started the procedure.

I was choking during the procedure from the water flow that wasn't being siphoned. Is this normal? I had a root canal before and this never happened. i was choking for 30 minutes, and the dental assistant told me to "try to breath out of my nose". I'm assuming she didn't turn on the siphon, and let the water drain down my throat during the procedure.
 

MattKW

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Root canals have rubber dams, and this can also be used for fillings. Can also be used if necessary for some part of the crown preparation, but would need to be taken off in final stages. Doesn't sound like this place is going to be able to do multiple crowns for you.
 

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Sorry this was not a root canal. I have bruxism and they were preparing my lower left and lower right teeth to being fitted for a crown. They worked on both teeth.

Does that change your answer at all? They did not use a rubber dam. The dental assistant had a water tube and water siphon, and the dentist had a mirror and a drill. That's all they used, and I was choking for 30 minutes on the water draining down my throat.

Why isn't that place going to be able to do multiple crowns for me? I'm not making a connection between multiple crowns and the rubber dam.
 

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MattKW

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I mean to say that root canals are always done with rubber dams, and fillings can be done with dams, but crowns aren't normally done with dams (I've certainly never tried it). And if you found a single crown preparation hard to manage at this clinic, how are you going to manage doing more? Maybe it's a DA who doesn't suction well, maybe you'll have to ask to be put more upright?
 

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Thank you for the response.

Is it normal for a DA to not suction well after I told them I was choking multiple times? Has this happened in your own experience?

I'm looking for a baseline, since you do this every day. Is this abnormal?
 

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MattKW

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If the tooth is nearest the DA (usually left side), then that's harder for her to suction but easier for the dentist, and vice versa. Some procedures are harder to control the suction, some patients are more tolerant of water; it's a game of adaptation. Modern dentistry is larely performed with patients flat on their backs or even tilted slightly with their head down. Great for dentists, not so good for patients. But you can always ask to be seated more upright, or ask for more breaks in treatment - I find this is commonly required by patients with back or neck injuries.Sometimes my DA and I do dentistry standing up.
 

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Have you had patients complain about choking on water, who did not have back or neck injuries? If so what did you do in response? Did they continue to choke throughout the procedure, and you took breaks as needed?
 

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