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Hi Logan,
I'm not a dentist, but have been a Registered Dental Asst. for 23 years and have worked for and endodontist (root canal specialist) for 18 years. I can tell you that if your nerve in #14 is dead/dying, you have two choices: either extraction or a root canal. The antibiotic may make the pain/pressure sensitivity go away temporarily. This is because a dead nerve causes an infection inside the tooth, in the nerve space. The infection is calmed down by the antibiotic. However until a root canal is performed the infection will return eventually. I can say that root canals have gotten a bad rap in the past. Nowadays, as long as your dentist can get you numb, you should not have any pain during the procedure. Since my experience is with specialists, a general dentist experience may be a little different, I would hope not, but maybe. It takes about 1-2 hours to do, depending on the number of canals (usually 3-4 canals on #14), and the anatomy of the roots. The dentist will drill a very small hole into the biting surface of the tooth, and file the insides of the canals until all nerve tissue has been removed. Once the canals are cleaned and shaped, he will fill the canals with a material called gutta percha, which is a type of rubber that is heated and packed into the canals with a sealer(glue). It's important to fill all the nooks and crannies of the canals to prevent reinfection. He will most likely take x-rays at certain points during the procedure to make sure he has filed/filled the canals properly. The tooth may be painful to biting for about a week or so after, just from the work done on the tooth. Kind of like a bruised area. After the root canal, you will need a post/core buildup and a crown to restore the tooth. We do at least 5 root canals a day in our office, and I talk to hundreds of patients about this every year. I myself have had 10 root canals over the years. The experience should not be a painful one if your infection is under control. Good Luck.
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