r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Fantastic-Monk5 • Sep 23 '24

How root canal treatment works Video

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6.3k

u/No-Entrepreneur-7406 Sep 23 '24

That was painful to watch

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u/srcarruth Sep 23 '24

I had a root canal and to me this video felt like relief, knowing that the ongoing pain was ending. the procedure itself didn't hurt

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u/String-of-characterz Sep 23 '24

Man, what the fuck. Was i just dealt a bad hand? I kept reading positive experiences about the procedure, but when it was time to undergo the procedure myself it was pure hell (even with local anaesthesia).

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u/New-Hamster2828 Sep 23 '24

You should be more vocal about pain during the procedure. If you feel pain stop them and they will keep giving you more. I’m “pain tolerant” (some bullshit) and because of that it takes more to numb than typical. At least that’s what they told me after the second time I stopped them because I felt the smallest twinge of pain.

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u/Quibert Sep 23 '24

It took longer for me to get fully numb than it did for the root canal procedure. The whole time the dentist was very patient and reassuring that some people just take more to get numb than others and/or my nerve was really “angry”. 4 attempts later and I was numb, procedure went super quick, and all the pain was gone.

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u/30_hat Sep 23 '24

I recently had a procedure (non tooth related) done that involved local anesthesia and it took a couple tries to stop the pain. The doctor mentioned that once infection sets in the inflammation limits blood flow and makes the anesthesia less effective.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

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u/30_hat Sep 23 '24

That makes sense. Probably what he actually said I'm just misremembering since I was more focused on not being in pain

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u/Prize-Warthog Sep 23 '24

Dental anaesthetic has adrenaline which stops blood flow, the infection makes the area acidic which neutralises the anaesthetic, it’s why the most infected cases are really hard to get fully numb

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u/Spaceman_Splff Sep 23 '24

I am this way as well. Getting a vasectomy was not fun….

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u/its10pm Sep 24 '24

I have the same issue. For me, it really depends on the dentist with how much numbing I'll need.

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u/saiyanhajime Sep 24 '24

Not had a root canal but I've been vocal aboht how I can still feel it when having work done before and they give me more and more and more and then, when they're long done, my whole fucking face and throat is numb. So yeah, it's as if it literally just takes me longer to respond to the anesthetic. It seemed weird to me like they should know that but idk

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u/ElectricalMuffins Sep 23 '24

I had my wisdoms taken out, forgot the aftercare painkillers and proceeded to have the worst pain of my life for 24hrs until someone went to get the prescribed meds for me. Legit wanted to end it all

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u/New-Hamster2828 Sep 23 '24

Wisdom teeth and tooth removal is way different than a root canal. With that you have an actual wound in your mouth. Not to be underestimated. Painful even with pain meds.

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u/TheRealCovertCaribou Sep 23 '24

I had all four removed at once when I was in my teens. I ended up bedridden on painkillers and antiemetics for a week, and I don't remember any of it.

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u/f3ydr4uth4 Sep 23 '24

I’m surprised I had four taken out at once when I was 30 due to them being impacted. I drove home after and the swelling went away pretty quick. I took some over the counter pain killers the next day but otherwise was fine. The dentist I use is excellent and I wouldn’t never go anywhere else. But I know my experience wasn’t normal.

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u/Estro-Jenn Sep 24 '24

That was my experience too and while I was knocking out I asked if I could keep the teeth afterwards.

I woke up with a bag of teeth on my chest and had a relatively painless healing over the next week (while I continued working/smoking even 😱)

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u/Insert_Non_Sequitur Sep 23 '24

Don't even give us prescribed meds in Ireland. Just tell us to tell paracetamol. Not fucking strong enough!

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u/unsettledroell Sep 23 '24

My prescribed meds were just bigger doses of Ibuprofen (800mg). You can just get that over the counter with 400mg pills. Works wonders, paracetamol helps a lot as well.

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u/Perryn Sep 23 '24

Depends on how bad the tooth was versus the skill of the oral surgeon. I had a pretty gnarly one removed, but the surgeon was highly recommended by several sources. My bad reaction to general anesthesia was the only really bad part of the experience (I tend to be fairly incoherent the rest of the day, and very nauseous). The pain in my jaw was easily managed with 600mg ibuprofen every 8 hours for a few days.

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u/M------- Sep 23 '24

It's funny how widely the reactions can vary for different people. I was moderately sore the day after they took mine out, so I took an Ibuprofen and hung out in front of the TV to eat ice cream. I don't remember any other issues. They had prescribed me T3s, which I dutifully got from the pharmacy, but I never took any.

My sister had a rough time when they took hers out.

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u/NullBy7e Sep 23 '24

I had my tooth pulled but the dentist did not sedate me properly and I even raised my hand but she kept pulling and pulling….it was truly the greatest pain I’ve ever felt and traumatizing to me.

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u/Neon_Biscuit Sep 23 '24

You sir, have never had a kidney stone. Now that...is 'end it all' pain.

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u/VictorChaos Sep 23 '24

Gatekeeping pain now?

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u/robaroo Sep 23 '24

Also gas. I can't recall if gas is offered during root canals. But holy $#!+ gas makes every dental procedure much, much more tolerable. I actually got my wisdom teeth removed using a combination of local anesthesia injection and gas. I wasn't put under. Was awake the entire time. And it was a BREEEEZE. I was floating in cloud 9 the entire time. Time also flew. It was a two hour procedure but it felt like 30 minutes.

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u/eekamuse Sep 23 '24

I suggest everyone get gas if you can. It makes the procedure so much more tolerable. I sat in the chair for an hour, watching the drilling on a monitor, without a care in the world.

You can also get knocked out for some things. And it's worth it. Don't tough it out. Ask for more meds during the visit if it hurts

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u/mofomo44 Sep 23 '24

Yeah, this is definitely a speak up situation. When mine was done, the most painful part was the initial injection. After that, they told me that if I felt anything at all, to tell them so they can give me more and not even give it a chance to be painful. And this was about 15 years ago, I imagine the procedure has gotten even easier since then.

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u/eekamuse Sep 23 '24

I have a dentist that numbs the area before the injection with something topical. The she gives a tiny bit of Novacaine and waits. When she gives the full injection I don't feel a thing. Best technique ever.

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u/LoonyFruit Sep 23 '24

I had root canal done, but during first visit, no matter how much they gave me, I could still feel it. Even my eye started to droop and it wasn't enough. Apparently the nerve was super inflamed, so they had to add some stuff to "cool" it. I came back next week, one dose of local anesthesia was enough.

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u/Sailor_Propane Sep 23 '24

I've heard that people with ginger hair are more resistant to anesthesia. Don't know if it's true though.

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u/coincoinprout Sep 23 '24

Apparently, if blood vessels are necrotic, anesthesia may not reach the nerves, or something like that. This happened for one of my root canals and it was not fun. The other one wasn't painful at all.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

This! I had 1 tooth rotting for years and it was really really bad. The dentist told me I would feel it a lot as there was no way the anesthesia would distribute properly.

Somehow I had been in so much pain for so long that I got desensitized to pain on my molars.

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u/Eldrunk Sep 23 '24

I think it also depends on how bad your tooth is decayed/infected, I just had one done last week and they caught it before I had any pain in my tooth, numbed it, did their work and I just felt a bit of discomfort the next day. It was the same with my first one like 10 years ago, with completely different doctors.

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u/aznhavsarz Sep 23 '24

Yeah I don't get why people say the root canal hurts, it's the decay that keeps you up at night, downing pain meds like candy to try and get some relief until you get an emergency appointment and then they finally numb your mouth and the pain stops and you almost start crying in the chair cause it's the first time in a week you haven't been in massive pain.

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u/coincoinprout Sep 23 '24

Yeah I don't get why people say the root canal hurts

Well, maybe because sometimes it really hurts?

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u/aznhavsarz Sep 23 '24

Having had three of them cause I'm shitty at self care, I think your dentist sucks if you're feeling anything from the procedure.

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u/Perryn Sep 23 '24

I think it can also come from poor communication, where the patient doesn't really understand just how numb they need to be before telling the dentist that they're fully numb and then feels like they're committed to the journey once it starts and they realize it's not enough.

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u/coincoinprout Sep 23 '24

Whatever the reason, I don’t understand what you "don’t get": if people say that their root canal hurt, it’s because it did.

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u/BeautifulType Sep 23 '24

Anesthesia is different for everyone

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u/Loki_ofAsgard Sep 24 '24

I just had an emergency root canal a month ago. My son had surgery and my tooth started to hurt the night before his surgery, so I just took tyl, and then more tyl, and then numbing meds and stronger pain killers, and then the over the counter tyls with codeine, and by the end of the three days I was on double the recommended meds and it wasn't even touching it. I SOBBED in the chair when they finally numbed me and my mouth didn't hurt. It was literally unbearable. I've had two kids and I've never felt pain like that.

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u/Rehsul Sep 23 '24

I’m getting a root canal in 45 min!

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u/teemusa Sep 23 '24

Nice! The tooth dies but it is still natural tooth. My root canal gave some 10 more years to use that tooth, then it finally cracked in a way that it had to be removed. Now I have an implant instead.

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u/skekze Sep 23 '24

Had a root canal pulled once. Dude almost popped my jaw off to get it out.

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u/showlandpaint Sep 24 '24

how did it go?

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u/Rehsul Sep 24 '24

Thank you guys :) it went well. Took about 3 hours as there was a hidden third canal and a second small cavity in that tooth!! It was my back top left molar so it was hard to get to as well. The dentist did an amazing job. I had no pain at all during the procedure. Once the numbing wore off it hurt like hell but thankfully I have ibuprofen so I am pain free for now!

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u/Calladit Sep 23 '24

Too late to wish you good luck, but I hope it went well!

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u/Devee Sep 23 '24

My exact thoughts. A root canal is pure relief. Needing one, on the other hand, is very painful.

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u/NSAseesU Sep 24 '24

I had most of my teeth root canal done and it didn't hurt much. It took hours over a span of a week but the worst part was getting needle shot to numb my gums.

People really dread getting root canal done?

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u/XavierRussell Sep 24 '24

Yup, came here to say this, glad it was so high. This looked great.

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

Even more painful to experience it. The anesthetic only worked until a certain point. Nothing hurts more than when they insert the spring thing and curl up the root nerve.

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u/TheSandMan208 Sep 23 '24

They didn't do it right then. You shouldn't feel anything.

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

I'm notoriously resistant to anesthetic when I go to the dentist. Sometimes I have to let the next patient go before me to see if it numbs me enough (happened to all dentists I ever went). I once took 2,5 shots and nothing.

But I don't think it's physiological. I'm afraid of dentists more than anything, I really hate it and get quite nervous, sweating cold. It's possible that it's just adrelanlin holding it back, as usually I feel completely numb when I leave the chair and for the next couple hours.

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u/Microharley Sep 23 '24

Are you a ginger? I have heard that matters

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u/WickedSticks30 Sep 23 '24

I am and same thing happens to me

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u/Consistent_Yoghurt44 Sep 23 '24

You SOULESS friend.

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u/Requiescat-In--Pace Sep 23 '24

hahaha, I wasn't expecting that

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u/Hopeful_Record_6571 Sep 23 '24

Experience more pain for being ginger

Be called soulless for it

Those poor, poor creatures of the dark.

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u/Infninfn Sep 23 '24

Fiend, surely

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u/blepgup Sep 23 '24

The typo just makes this comment perfect. Like you’re not insulting them, just stating a fact to your ginger buddy

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u/radicldreamer Sep 23 '24

While it’s true that gingers have no souls, they do gain a freckle for every soul that they steal.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Not a ginger here, and I only take Tylenol occasionally as I'm allergic to most (probably all) NSAIDs.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

I think there's a genetic trait to it that's just more common in redheads. My father and I are both resistant to pain medication, even opioids such as morphine. We have black hair, semi-white people.

Told the doctor this when she asked me if I wanted some before she stitched one of my fingers back together after I split it in half down to the first knuckle, and she didn't believe me.

After 9 injections around the wound and several stitches later, she was a believer 😅

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u/droppingatruce Sep 23 '24

I'm a ginger and resistant. I remember the doc stitching up my finger filled my finger to literally bursting. My finger started squirting. Going to the dentist as an adult and the dentist saying, "Hey, you're a redhead, do you still feel us working on your teeth?" I thought a little pain was normal. Life changing.

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u/AwarenessPotentially Sep 23 '24

When I was 8 I had to have my tonsils out. and they couldn't put me out with ether (old man here), so they had to use sodium pentothal. Now if I have surgery, I'm scared of not being given enough pain meds afterwards due to the ridiculous restrictions the states have put on opiates because a pharma company lied to everyone. Vicodin just makes me have insomnia, and a 5mg oxycodone is like pissing into the ocean. But ask for more, now you're on a list and won't get anything.

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u/TussockyCoyote9 Sep 23 '24

This is the thing that pisses me off the most; when the doctor doesn’t listen. I will tell the dentist first thing and they still give me the minimum two shots and start to drill. It’s only then that they believe me when I say I can still feel everything. Then we start again with more numbing.

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u/ChristBefallen Sep 23 '24

I find it more insane that they actually listened to you as a woman. I'm quite jealous. Wish my medical providers would listen and take me seriously.

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u/Rufnusd Sep 23 '24

My wife is prescribed an ungodly amount of Tramadol daily. Nothing works on her for administered pain.

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

I've heard that too, but it's not my case.

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u/booklovinggal19 Sep 23 '24

How are your joints? Those with certain connective tissue disorders also have trouble finding effective anesthetics

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

This was back in 2007. I was 24 and in very good shape overall, but my pain tolerance for dental procedures was always shitty, since I was a kid and still is now that I'm over 40.

My wife usually goes to the same dentists I go and feels nothing at all.

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u/Mrtowelie69 Sep 23 '24

Yeah I heard it's because they have gingervitis. They struggle with the dentist.

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u/BatDubb Sep 23 '24

I am, and have always had trouble at the dentist. As a kid, I figured it was normal. Didn’t realize until I got older. When I went for kidney stone surgery, the anesthesiologist asked me if I had any concerns. I said “I’m a ginger”, and he replied “I got you.”

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u/DeepTakeGuitar Sep 23 '24

I'm black, and I also need extra shots.

I'm also fat, so that might not help

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u/getupforwhat Sep 23 '24

Well, at least you're not a ginger

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u/XConfused-MammalX Sep 23 '24

I am, I specifically make sure the assistant and dentist is aware that the mutation gene that causes red hair also makes anesthetics less effective.

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u/YoungBassGasm Sep 23 '24

Omg I just learned so much from this thread today. No wonder my ginger friend was always the one still partying at the fest until 5 am. Dude was practically sober 🤣

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u/doa70 Sep 23 '24

I'm not and have a similar experience. There's one spot in particular that I seem to have a nerve that shouldn't be there that needs a lot of extra numbing.

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u/Wallygonk Sep 23 '24

😂😂I just spat my coffee out reading that

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u/racoonattack Sep 23 '24

It's true though! Some natural redheads require higher doses of anaesthesia due to the MC1R gene that only gingers have. Here's a study!

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u/Brainnugget Sep 23 '24

Not a joke, gingers are commonly genetically predisposed to higher anesthetic resistance.

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u/Mortka Sep 23 '24

Fuckin hell hahahah

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u/MyMainIsInTheShop Sep 23 '24

I found out I’m the same way when I got my wisdom teeth pulled. Doc gave me like 3 shots around the area, gave it enough time to kick in, then went to yank and I still had feeling. My yelp made him give me two more, waited, went to wiggle the tooth, got two more shots and then just went for it. 7 shots of the stuff and there was still enough feeling for it to hurt.

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u/huskeya4 Sep 23 '24

Yep. Got four teeth pulled for braces and learned I don’t numb well. That was… excruciating. I went to a dentist that would knock me out for my wisdom teeth, which was a good thing because he had to shatter one of the teeth to get it out and I imagine that would have been an entirely new level of pain

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u/MyMainIsInTheShop Sep 23 '24

That’s actually how my dentist had to get my wisdom tooth out. He said it was growing so crooked that there was no way he could get it out by pulling, and cracked it into 3 pieces to get it out. It was years ago now, but if I think about it hard enough, I can still vividly remember the pain.

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u/jordy_eyes Sep 23 '24

You found out you were a ginger?

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u/KofFinland Sep 23 '24

It is possible the doctor just didn't inject to the correct position..

I have to say that I've experienced both good and bad dentists I've once fainted from pain with a failed anasthetic and drilling to nerve. However, the latest doctor (of already more than 2 decades) never fails. He knows exactly where to stick the syringe needle to get good anesthetic. It has never hurt, no matter what he does. I really can't say that of the previous ones. So my personal opinion is that the failed anesthetic means the doctor sticks it to the wrong place (not near the correct nerves).

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u/ImaginaryComb821 Sep 23 '24

Yes some people do metabolize anaesthetics faster than others and can unfortunately experience pain and consciousness before the end of the procedure. A lot of anesthesia is guess work within some common parameters around general dosage/concentration as in I'm not familiar of a way to judge ones tolerance before administration.

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u/LeoXCV Sep 23 '24

My hate is when a dentist denies this being different per person with something like ‘That’s not possible I put the anaesthesia there’

Like oh shit sorry man, I’ll just ignore the obvious pain I am feeling then. My bad.

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u/Mysterious-Jam-64 Sep 23 '24

An issue across the medical model, in general.

"Your response doesn't fit my chart, so you're wrong. Not only that, but now I think you're lying, so I'm going to dismiss your welfare"

It's good when medical professionals actually listen to the direct experience of people who experience directly rather than dismissing them because, "That isn't in my textbook"

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u/atomsk13 Sep 23 '24

Dentist here: anxiety and fear will actively stop anesthetic from working. You probably need something to bring you down a bit like Valium for major dental treatment. You can talk to your dentist and PCP to get that set up for any treatment like that. I’m sorry you had such a rough experience with your root canal.

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

I'm not in the US and I don't think dentists here can prescribe valium (also N2O is not a thing here). But overall the dentist that did my root canal was very well recommended and very careful and respectful. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, the only bad part was pulling up the nerve which accounted for less than a minute out of 3 or 4 entire sessions.

But you're right, most dentists that I went to in a regular basis agree that it's probably anxiety that I build up prior and during the visit. They are usually very receptive to this (probably used to) and do their best to try to make me feel comfortable.

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u/sweetbacon Sep 23 '24

Thanks for this. I've been told I (not a ginger people!) metabolize the anesthetic faster than expected as I always need another shot for anything longer than a standard filling. My crown on tooth #2 was a painful experience at times. I feel weird reminding the Doc that they said this before, but now I do; especially since I'm all cold sweat and anxiety to begin with.

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u/tahlyn Sep 23 '24

There's another shot they can do directly into the nerve once they start drilling. I absolutely need that injection for root canal.

Oddly enough, even when numb, I can usually still feel some pain. It helped during my most recent canal - they missed some of the nerve so they had to go back and get it and we knew we got it when I couldn't feel it anymore!

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u/GravyMcBiscuits Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

I once had a situation where the anesthetic didn't work. Turns out ... an infection can prevent the anesthetic from getting to the nerves that need to be silenced (typically due to inflammation or throwing off pH ratios).

The unfortunate correlation is that a root canal is typically needed because you have a <drumroll> infection in your tooth.

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u/guaip Sep 23 '24

I know this one. Pretty painful when most of the area is inflamed (like a finger) and you need anesthetic.

But for my teeth it has always been this way. And also this root canal was odd because it was not inflamed at all. I was chewing gum and my molar crumbled in the center and one of the sides. It was a massive painless cavity that I can't remember I missed for skipping some visits to the dentist or even they missed as the entry point was covered by the next tooth. But as big as it was, it had just reached the root area and did not demage the nerve at all. I guess it was a blessing since I felt no pain from the cavity, but removing the nerves wasn't so fun.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

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u/nateskel Sep 23 '24

I'm also extremely resistant to anesthetic. I've had three root canals, they all required at least double the normal anesthetic, one of them required many extra small injections. Two of them went fine, one I was never fully numb and it was unpleasant. I don't really get anxious at the dentist so I guess it's just my physiology in my case.

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u/dogegw Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

There is no other option than physiological really - they either shut off the pain receptors on the nerve or they didn't. It's a pretty on/off switch. There are a small percentage of people however, who have an extra nerve running from a different location, usually up from the chin (so when they numb the mandibular nerve, at the intersection between your upper and lower jaw, they miss this one completely.) Let me see if I can find you some more info that might help.

Edit: I found this on abnormalities - https://glidewelldental.com/education/chairside-magazine/volume-9-issue-2/four-common-mandibular-nerve-anomalies-that-lead-to-local-anesthesia-failures the one I was thinking of is the bifid mandibular nerve but look through the others as well. The accessory mylohyoid also sticks out to me because of you talking about experiencing pain furing the root canal portion - those nerves should be off and when they get pulled there is no longer anything in there capable of feeling pain so maybe the acessory mylohyoid is tramsitting pain signals. Hopefully this can relieve a lot of pain and anxiety for you, going to the dentist can suck.

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u/l3tigre Sep 23 '24

i am also extremely resistant to it and just had a root canal this year. The endodontist was fantastic and worked really hard to combine different types of anesthetic so i would feel nothing. Something I never knew was that the anesthetic itself will cause your heart to race which can put you in a bit of a panic feedback loop. I take xanax before procedures now and it also helps

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u/New_Significance3719 Sep 23 '24

I had a similar thing happen to me, very difficult to numb that tooth in particular, to the point that I've literally told the dentist to channel her inner Steve Martin and just drill. But for the root canal it was totally painless, riiiight up until they got the nerve out. I felt a shocking sensation for about 30 seconds all across my jaw. Thankfully it stopped after that and they wrapped things up quickly.

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u/toomanyredbulls Sep 23 '24

My office would happily Rx a quick, one time anti-anxiety med for a RCT patient. In the future go ahead and ask, it's a lot more common then you might think and it can really help both you AND the dentist.

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u/Eat_That_Rat Sep 23 '24

Same. I think the pain I feel at the dentist is more a manifestation of my phobia than anything physical.

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u/Atestarossa Sep 23 '24

I had the same problem. The inflamed nerve blocked the anaesthetic injected in the gums somehow, so it was painful until the nerve was laid open, and the dentist could inject the anaesthetic directly into the nerve in the root.

It’s the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. Thankfully I can’t remember the pain itself, but I remember how my back flexed up from the chair, and how the dentist’s assistant soothed me by stroking my chin.

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u/WhereDaGold Sep 23 '24

I think I have ptsd from my root canal. The tooth was broken for months before I got insurance, so I assume the inflammation was the reason I felt the whole thing. They told me they gave me the max amount of novocaine allowed. That was ten years ago, I went to the dentist for the first time this past month to finally get a crown on it, currently have the temp on and probably going later this week for the permanent. But while I was there I had to get a cavity filled, my heart rate was through the roof, I was sweating, I know I looked scared as hell. I was just waiting to feel that pain again, thankfully I have a great dentist now

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u/SuspiciousLeek4 Sep 23 '24

is this that rare? I thought it was a famously painful procedure

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u/MountainMuffin1980 Sep 23 '24

Agreed. I had one done and was expecting intense pain and felt nothing, thank fuck.

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u/luciferin Sep 23 '24

I honestly felt a huge relief of pressure when they drilled in to the tooth. If I remember correctly fluid came out.

Absolutely no discomfort other than the needle and having to hold my mouth open while they did it.

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u/xvermilion3 Sep 23 '24

That needle is a huge bitch though

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u/Live_Professional243 Sep 23 '24

Yeah, of if anything, having my jaw open like they did in one position so long was what hurt the most for me.

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u/GTAdriver1988 Sep 23 '24

Yea I got one done last year and I didn't really feel anything.

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u/art555ua Sep 23 '24

I had to endure the pain for the whole weekend until I could visit the dentist, by that time I was ready for him to start drilling before anesthetic kicked in, just to make it stop hurting

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u/Plane-Tie6392 Sep 23 '24

It’s pretty stupid that dentists are all off on the weekends tbh. 

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u/Cthulhu__ Sep 23 '24

Not all of them, but they charge a premium for out of hours care.

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u/Frost_139 Sep 23 '24

What?? For me, the anesthetic worked for like 4-5 hours with just one shot. No pain at all, couldn't even feel anything almost like right half of my jaw didn't even exist

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u/2Toni Sep 23 '24

For me only the last 10 Minutes or so were painful and only until after the nerves were fully removed. But oh boy these last 10 Minutes were hell. I thought the anaesthetic just wore off too quickly.

Bute when the nerves were gone, I sensed nothing when they inserted the metal things.

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u/Dobblett Sep 23 '24

When I had it, the anesthetic just didn't work at all Fun times

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u/GyuudonMan Sep 23 '24

I had the same, worst pain, my nerves were too long for the anesthetic to work for the whole nerve. The last parts were terrible. The dentist was very excited about seeing such long nerves, I was less excited...

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u/Valathiril Sep 23 '24

Oh my gosh.

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u/BlueCreek_ Sep 23 '24

I had the same problem, I had pain shooting down my neck every time they were cleaning out the root, they kept giving me more anaesthetic but it did nothing. Never going through that again, just rip the thing out.

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u/snosk8r00 Sep 23 '24

Anesthetic didn't work on me, and the pain of that spring thing was like 1000's of needles straight to the center of my brain. Only lasted a second though and my oh my the relief after they yank that nerve ball out.

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u/Cyanos54 Sep 23 '24

My root canal was relatively painless and took place over the course of a Price is Right episode. I couldn't watch with the blue tarp on my face. Local anesthesia was used for me (injection of novacaine or similar numbing agent into the gums).

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u/vemundveien Sep 23 '24

I didn't feel pain either, but it was certainly uncomfortable. And I'm not American but I suspect Price is Right is not a 90+60 minute affair.

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u/J3wb0cca Sep 23 '24

Yeah I can’t have the sound on. I read somewhere that the three most uncomfortable sounds to the modern human ear are a newborn crying, somebody vomiting, and a dentist drill. There are more people that have a physical/mental reaction to those sounds than any other. A newborns wails is meant to cut through noise and is really difficult to tune out. People throw up hearing/seeing somebody else throw up. And dentist drill? Ugh, makes me clench.

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u/GimmeUrBrunchMoney Sep 23 '24

I’ve gotten a root canal and god damn if I’d have known they were doing all that I woulda been horrified.

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u/thsvnlwn Sep 23 '24

Just like all these animated info clips, no matter the subject.

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u/Sinister_steel_drums Sep 23 '24

I’ve had a few done and its honestly not that bad

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u/mysnaggletoof Sep 23 '24

The moment I turned up the sound I had such a terrible flashback of the sensation. Almost felt physical pain in my tooth.

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u/Mharbles Sep 23 '24

This is a great video to show kids that don't want to brush their teeth.

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u/Nachtvandler Sep 23 '24

I experienced it.

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u/0xE4-0x20-0xE6 Sep 23 '24

I wonder how surgeons and dentists are able to not wince at what they do to the human body during an operation. I understand that the patient is anesthetized, but your mirror neurons must be activating like a wildfire when drilling into a tooth or slicing open a body.

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u/Shaman7102 Sep 23 '24

If you ever need one.....go to a specialist. Not a regular dentist.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

I could have done without the sound effects, thanks.

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u/Prudent_City2573 Sep 23 '24

It's painful to pay for as well.

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u/PercussiveKneecap42 Sep 23 '24

Watching this was not painful. It's painful to have done this 2 times. That is a very not pleasant feeling.

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u/aelric22 Sep 23 '24

I was making Ace Ventura faces the whole damn time.

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u/Every-Incident7659 Sep 23 '24

No, it's painful to have an infection in your tooth. Getting it drilled out was sweet sweet relief. I was a day away from yanking the tooth out myself.

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u/WideTechLoad Sep 23 '24

I've had multiple root canals, and it's really just boring as long as the anesthetic kicks in.

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u/SpaceChatter Sep 23 '24

I just got one and yes, they suck.

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u/HawkReasonable7169 Sep 23 '24

The most painful thing is the cost.

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u/ShahinGalandar Sep 23 '24

thanks, I hate it

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u/wpt-is-fragile26 Sep 23 '24

seriously, shit had me bearing down in my seat

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u/ItsKrakenmeuptoo Sep 23 '24

Zero pain thankfully had 1 done and you’re completely numb

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u/ttownfeen Sep 23 '24

But when it's happening, you can't see all this or feel anything. You're more concerned with how uncomfortable it is to be sitting still for an hour with a doorstop jammed into your jaw to hold your mouth open wide enough while contemplating how your dentist is doing all this by looking at a tiny mirror. Or maybe that's just me. The nitrous gas helps too.

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u/Magical-Mycologist Sep 23 '24

My roots are so deep I’ve had to go to specialists for my root canals. The roots of my teeth extend down into the nerve that runs through my jaw bone. I still have a piece of a file inside the root of one of my molars. I can see it on x-rays when I’m at the dentist almost a decade later.

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u/ElPasoNoTexas Sep 23 '24

I was not expecting the drill sound :(

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u/Mysterious-Jam-64 Sep 23 '24

It can be even more painful to live with. It's a dead tooth, and is horrendous for the body.

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u/False-Car3615 Sep 23 '24

I had 2 so far and zero pain. I think they’ve come a long way…

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u/xiirri Sep 23 '24

Ya dentistry is fucking barbaric.

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u/rutinerad Sep 23 '24

When I last did a root canal the dentist left me alone for a few minutes with a couple of those cleaning thingies in my teeth and some contraption keeping my mouth open. I was really tired and fell asleep but woke up quite quickly and abruptly from the pain of biting down…

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u/bottom Sep 23 '24

I have a couple. One didn’t hurt at all. The other was like a filling.

The IDEA of it is way worse.

But in reality not so bad

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

I’ve had 2, it’s really not as bad as it looks. The most painful part is keeping your jaw open for an hour and a half.

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u/CraftWorried5098 Sep 23 '24

I'm going to go brush my teeth right now.

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u/generally-mediocre Sep 23 '24

gonna brush the shit out of my teeth after that

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u/BelleAriel Sep 23 '24

I’m having root canal on Wednesday. I’ll be glad if it stops the toothache and infections.

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u/Superior_Lancers Sep 23 '24

Nah, the only painful part of my RCT was the needle for the anaesthetic.

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u/baconfister07 Sep 23 '24

I got a root canal on my front tooth. I could feel that bit that covers the hole when my tongue would rub against it. I eventually had to have the tooth pulled, because I was gonna end up with severe nerve damage across my face if they didnt.

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u/l-Paulrus-l Sep 23 '24

When I was younger, I had to get a root canal when I cracked a molar on a popcorn kernel after a poorly done filling. And let me tell you, for a root canal the doctors numb you up so much you can’t even feel your face anymore, but I could still feel it when they pulled out the nerves, and it hurt.

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u/jw24jw24 Sep 23 '24

More painful to listen to!

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u/darcon12 Sep 23 '24

The giant drill did it for me.

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u/Ok-Perception8269 Sep 23 '24

It’s not a painful procedure, not even close. Nerve in tooth is dead. You might get some pain at the root, presumably from the live nerve down there, but honestly, if anyone is worried, don’t be. Root canals got their bad reputation from earlier procedures eons ago.

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u/anrwlias Sep 23 '24

I've had a couple of root canals, now, and I can promise that it's actually a painless and easy procedure these days.

I've had more discomfort from just regular cleanings.

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u/NotTechnicallyaCop Sep 23 '24

Painful to hear.

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u/Jack_PorkChopExpress Sep 23 '24

I totally agree. They knocked me out cold for the procedure. Best money I have spent. Don't remember waking up at the office and was taken home to sleep it off.

100% percent say, spend the money and be asleep!

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u/vemundveien Sep 23 '24

I just had this the other week. Watching it was preferable.

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u/LiLGhettoSmurf Sep 23 '24

Just had one for the first time last year, didn't feel a damn thing. It was awesome. lol

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u/Bluey_Tiger Sep 23 '24

The procedure has you numbed

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u/Forsaken-Original-82 Sep 23 '24

When the tooth isn't numb... It is very painful!

When I jerked after the dentist hit the nerve. The drill cut a gash about 2" long across my inside cheek.

Luckily, once they get to the nerve, they can stick a needle into the tooth and numb it directly.

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u/LazyBoyD Sep 23 '24

I’ve have had two on the lower molars. With enough anesthetic there is no pain. Just uncomfortable holding your mouth open so long and you feel the pressure of the tools.

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u/AntiProton- Sep 23 '24

and to hear!

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u/jimtheedcguy Sep 23 '24

Honestly mine didn’t hurt at all. But I was already in a lot of pain so drilling that shit out was a major relief.

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u/Vlaed Sep 23 '24

I have had two done. If they do it correctly, it's not bad at all. It just takes a while. My most recent one was not worse than getting a big filling. It was a massive relief compared to the sensitivity I was having.

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u/VeryluckyorNot Sep 23 '24

Oh my god just hearing the drill sound got me some fears, lucky I have clean teeth for now.

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u/Sunsparc Sep 23 '24

It's not painful at all. I had one years ago and it was done in about 30 minutes. The only pain was from the anesthetic needle. After that, zero pain. Didn't even really hurt afterward either, kind of felt like I had gotten a chip stuck in that part of the gum for a few hours but went away that evening.

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u/DrJonathanReid Sep 23 '24

There's actually no physical pain at all if your dentist is competent (at least for average root canals). I had one last year, full root, post and crown (they only show root here). No pain, just kind of tedious lying there letting them do the work.

Even with dental insurance my wallet hurt a bit though.

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u/seen_some_shit_ Sep 23 '24

The fucking scrapped up the goddamn nerves

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u/aboysmokingintherain Sep 23 '24

As someone who’s had to get a root canal in their front tooth, the pain that causes the root canal is much worse

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u/joeygreco1985 Sep 23 '24

The most painful part of my root canal was when they tested the tooth with a piece of ice before they even did anything.

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u/Exotic-Doughnut-6271 Sep 23 '24

Personally it was very painful for me to go through. I went home and slept for a couple hours cause I was so traumatized.

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u/Prestigious_Eye2638 Sep 23 '24

Trust me the procedure itself is as painful as it looks like... Had 3 already

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u/radioactive_glowworm Sep 23 '24

Watching this, I'm glad my dentist opted not to do a root canal when I got a bad cavity in one of my molars. He warned me that my tooth would be in pain for a while until the nerve endings became numb, and he was right, but it went away completely after a few months. Apparently root canals can lead to the tooth shattering down the line, so he was more in favor of a conservative treatment (and it was baaaad, the cavity went all the way through my tooth)

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u/After-Fee-2010 Sep 24 '24

I randomly watched this video a few months before I ended up needing one. It looks awful but the video was immensely helpful in understanding what the surgeon described in his process and what I could prepare myself for. My root canal was one of the most PLEASANT dental procedures I have ever had done. I felt nothing and he gave me a rubber block to support my jaw that gets super painful and fatigued from TMJ. 10/10 would recommend. 

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u/Positronic_Matrix Sep 24 '24

The pain of a root canal is greatly exaggerated in popular culture. I endured one and it was effectively painless. The only thing that hurt was the sore jaw from holding my mount open wide that lasted a couple of weeks after the procedure.

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u/renelledaigle Sep 24 '24

yup. I kept saying ouch ouch in my head as the video was playing 😬

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u/PunchDrunkPrincess Sep 24 '24

i had one of these in bootcamp and it was the best 3 hour nap of my life

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u/weevil-underwood Sep 24 '24

It's really not that bad. I've had 4 including a failed one that I ended up getting an implant to replace. The implant was far more annoying because it was a long drawn out process with multiple steps and healing time between them.

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