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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/seandowling73 on 2026-01-01 23:21:18+00:00.
TL;DR: ignored symptoms of an infected tooth leading to massive pain and expense.
Ok the f up isn’t the root canal itself, but in ignoring the symptoms. Background: I had a crown done in February 2025 on a back molar to fix a cracked tooth from a sports injury. The tooth wasn’t bothering me or infected or anything, and there was no post procedure discomfort. Over the summer I developed a frequent cough in the morning accompanied by a bad taste in my mouth. I kept checking for tonsil stones but nothing, even thought I might have tonsillitis. Fast forward to Monday 12/29 and my tooth starts hurting bad enough to take pain killers. By the next day the pain was blinding. Was able to get in to see an endodontist who said she sees this about 4x per year and that it needed to be addressed immediately. Now that I had a root canal the taste and cough are completely gone. I’ve even had 2 teeth cleaning in the time since I had a crown but I didn’t even think to bring up the symptoms to my dentist. Could have saved myself a ton of pain and money.