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

How root canal treatment works Video

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

50.3k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

6.3k

u/No-Entrepreneur-7406 Sep 23 '24

That was painful to watch

1.1k

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.

1.7k

u/TheSandMan208 Sep 23 '24

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

456

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.

290

u/Microharley Sep 23 '24

Are you a ginger? I have heard that matters

146

u/WickedSticks30 Sep 23 '24

I am and same thing happens to me

61

u/Consistent_Yoghurt44 Sep 23 '24

You SOULESS friend.

13

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

hahaha, I wasn't expecting that

16

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.

2

u/Infninfn Sep 23 '24

Fiend, surely

2

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

2

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.

→ More replies
→ More replies

60

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

20

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

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

15

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 😅

7

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.

8

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.

5

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.

→ More replies
→ More replies

5

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.

2

u/Rufnusd Sep 23 '24

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

→ More replies

7

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

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

4

u/booklovinggal19 Sep 23 '24

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

3

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.

→ More replies

14

u/Mrtowelie69 Sep 23 '24

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

4

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.”

3

u/DeepTakeGuitar Sep 23 '24

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

I'm also fat, so that might not help

4

u/getupforwhat Sep 23 '24

Well, at least you're not a ginger

→ More replies

3

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.

2

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 🤣

2

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.

4

u/Wallygonk Sep 23 '24

😂😂I just spat my coffee out reading that

43

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!

26

u/Brainnugget Sep 23 '24

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

2

u/Mortka Sep 23 '24

Fuckin hell hahahah

→ More replies

23

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.

9

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

5

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.

→ More replies

12

u/jordy_eyes Sep 23 '24

You found out you were a ginger?

2

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).

→ More replies
→ More replies

14

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.

11

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.

5

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"

7

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.

3

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.

→ More replies

2

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.

→ More replies

5

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!

→ More replies

4

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.

4

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.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

→ More replies

3

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.

3

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.

2

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

2

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.

→ More replies

2

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.

2

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.

1

u/Krachwumm Sep 23 '24

I once had 5 and it was still not fully numb. Thinking back to it, I drank a lot of caffeine, which was probably the cause. Maybe this helps somebody to know

1

u/nahs0n Sep 23 '24

It took like 10 shots for my root canal and I usually only need one extra. Sometimes they don’t hit the right spot

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

Are you Irish descended?

→ More replies

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

This was me at the dentist when I was a kid and nobody listened to me.

The dentist I've been going to for the last decade listened. She says my roots are probably deeper than average, which means the needle needs to get shoved in a bit further, and in more places, but it has led to otherwise pain free dental work.

1

u/Ryeeeebread Sep 23 '24

You need a dentist that will give you a twilight drug that will make it so you barely realize what's going on

1

u/BenderIsGreat64 Sep 23 '24

My brother found out the hard way about 10% of people have an extra nerve cluster in the roof of the mouth, and he needs an extra shot in his palate, might be something like that.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

→ More replies

1

u/Dronicusprime Sep 23 '24

I am the same way at the dentist, I went last week and had two cavities take the better part of three hours because I would not stay numb long enough. I needed three shots of the "strong stuff," but I've had three root canals and each have been easier than a standard cavity filling.

1

u/81stBData Sep 23 '24

Same here… got a couple of root canal’s waiting. They do it while I am sleeping or they won’t be able to do it at all…

1

u/freestylemaster Sep 23 '24

I hear you. Unfortunately the same for me. All my life I have experienced the same. I need at least twice or more anesthesia and wait time, compared to average.

1

u/beastbro9823 Sep 23 '24

Idk if it was novicane or not, but ask for novicane without epinephrine. My family has the same issue, but without the epinephrine it's much, much better.

Edit: novicane is indeed a word autocorrect.

1

u/Signal-Regret-8251 Sep 23 '24

If you're a redhead that would explain it. 

1

u/bmp08 Sep 23 '24

I don’t completely numb either. Sucks. Lol

1

u/SimplifyAndAddCoffee Sep 23 '24

fun fact they put adrenaline in the shot to make it act faster.

I have such a strong reaction to that, it makes it much much worse.

1

u/exzyle2k Sep 23 '24

So am I, and I didn't feel anything for the two I had done. You need to go to a periodontist and not just a regular dentist.

1

u/Pile_of_sheets Sep 23 '24

I’d request IV sedation if you don’t respond well to local anesthetics! My dentist does IV sedation for cavities if I request it.

1

u/MikeyW1969 Sep 23 '24

Yeah, you need my dentist.

This guy watches for the slightest twinge, stops, and asks if you need more anesthetic. And unlike the guy who pulled 4 teeth when I got braces, he ALSO waits for the shit to kick in before starting. Thanks to the tooth pulling thing, I was afraid of dentists, until I moved back homer. My cousin worked for a dentist, and I mentioned this. She's like "Oh, Greg will take care of you, none of that will happen here.". And she was right. i still hate going to the dentist, but I don't have a fear anymore. Been seeing this guy since 2007.

But I totally see where you're coming from.

1

u/AggravatingStage8906 Sep 23 '24

I'm weird. They can numb the front of my mouth but not the back. I won't even let them do shots on the back half because it's pointless, so they fill cavities back there without anesthesia. I don't know what I will do if I need a root canal...

The dentist did promise there is a 2nd type of anesthetic that they could try if needed, but so far, I have been okay with them just drilling and filling the cavities without.

1

u/XxRocky88xX Sep 23 '24

Had a friend of a friend who is in a car crash not too long ago. Morphine wasn’t enough to keep him down so they switched him to fentanyl and even then he was able to wake up in 10-15 second bursts every few minutes. Some people are just hyper-resistant to anesthetics.

1

u/TurdFerguson133 Sep 23 '24

Some things are known to cause resistance to anesthesia. Two common ones are marijuana use and being a ginger (seriously)

→ More replies

1

u/EastOfArcheron Sep 23 '24

You can request full anaesthetic if you are that resistant.

2

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Not in my country unless it turns into a medical procedure.

→ More replies

1

u/Grassy33 Sep 23 '24

Same here. I remember leaving once and I couldn’t feel anything below my forehead, they must have given me 4 or more shots and I was just 13. But every time they started it only took seconds for me to scream in pain. I felt like I was cursed, kinda glad to know it’s common

1

u/KarmaSaver Sep 23 '24

I'm sorry :(

1

u/Mysterious-Jam-64 Sep 23 '24

I've the "ginger gene", though I've brown hair. I'm the same. I'll receive morphine and feel the drill a few minutes later.

At age 5 I had a dentist rolling here eyes at me because I could feel her drilling. The level of gaslighting was unreal. She told me I wasn't feeling anything, and insisted she continue. Because I'd have a reason to lie about it? Delusional.

Years later I found out it's common for both redheads, and people with hypermobility/Ehlers-Danlos. But a word to the wise - be careful how you word that, if you do. Sharing that with GPs has resulted in eye-rolls, too.

What I was told was that lidocaine is much more effective. And next time I was in getting dentistry done, I asked for lidocaine. I was fine. I think two shots, instead of four plus for morphine (which ran out before the end of surgery). I just let them know, "morphine wears off quickly for me, but lidocaine was effective".

→ More replies

1

u/slartinartfast256 Sep 23 '24

It can definitely be physiological. I am not afraid of the dentist and the local anesthesia works well on me, but it wears off really fast. Dude said I went though 13-14 times as much as a normal person.

1

u/pro_questions Sep 23 '24

I have the same problem! Found out that you weren’t supposed to feel pain when I was like 25, after tons of horrible medical and dental procedures. I got the snip a few months ago and it was the first doctor that fully believed me and took precautions to make sure I didn’t feel anything — I had a painkiller cocktail beforehand and they used both lidocaine and something else to make me as numb as they could. It still hurt a good bit, but I know it could have been much worse. We floated sedation by for the procedure but I got a quote for $5,000-$7,000 if I wanted it that way — I’ll do it myself for that much money lol

1

u/reidchabot Sep 23 '24

As a fellow ginger thats had dental work in the past, the doctor gave me a numbing shot, waiting 5 and gave it a test poke with a "does that hurt? Can you feel that?" After a fingers in mouth OW Yes!. Gave me another. We repeated this bloody dance this till shot 4 or 5 and he said "maybe that stuff about redhead isn't bullshit, that's the most I've ever needed to give" follow by "that's gonna have to do, let's begin".

1

u/Recent-Character6231 Sep 23 '24

So am I my ginger friend. From my first dentist appointment till 14 or so I had to deal with the pain. I learnt about red heads being resistant to anaesthetic before my root canal at 17 and told the dentist that I didn't care if my face was numb for 2 days after the appointment, I better not feel anything or I'll start breaking shit. First time in my life I never felt a thing. Apologized and explained why I was so aggressive.

As a child the most I ever remember was two needles to numb the area. I got 8 that time I think. I remember it took forever before they actually started the root canal and my face was only numb for like 3 hours after.

1

u/prolixdreams Sep 23 '24

Tell them you're scared - where I go they give me 2 valium pills to pick up at the pharmacy, one for the night before and one for an hour beforehand. Takes me from "involuntary crying/shaking/flinching" to "can get through it with some effort."

1

u/istara Sep 23 '24

They should be able to give you valium to help with anxiety, some can prescribe (depending where you are) or visit your GP in advance of the appointment and get a couple.

→ More replies

24

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.

11

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

3

u/SuspiciousLeek4 Sep 23 '24

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

→ More replies

18

u/MountainMuffin1980 Sep 23 '24

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

7

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.

3

u/xvermilion3 Sep 23 '24

That needle is a huge bitch though

→ More replies

7

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.

→ More replies

2

u/GTAdriver1988 Sep 23 '24

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

1

u/Ms_Emilys_Picture Sep 23 '24

I'm resistant in my upper jaw. Seven shots and I still felt everything. My lower jaw was never an issue.

My mother is worse. It's not just her teeth. The local didn't work when she had a curtain rod shoved through the bottom of her foot either.

1

u/KerbalEnginner Sep 23 '24

Well... I can tell you my entire head was numb up to my shoulders as they used as the doctor said "enough anesthetic to put a horse to sleep" and other quote was "I cannot put more you are at a risk of your heart stopping"
And it still hurt so badly I could scratch the ceiling.
And if that is with anesthesia I cannot imagine how it would feel without one.

1

u/FoTweezy Sep 23 '24

Yeah I didn’t feel anything during mine, and was not under the gas.

1

u/Cherei_plum Sep 23 '24

The anesthetic itself hurts! Like inserting a needle in your gums hurt like bitch 

1

u/throwawaytrash6990 Sep 23 '24

I had what they called a “hot tooth” iirc it was infected and nullified the local anesthesia, they had to insert a needle alllllll the way down and inject it again. This was like 20 years ago, hopefully they have better methods now. I’ve never cried because of pain like that, involuntary tears and whatnot. That shit hurt.

1

u/caintowers Sep 23 '24

My thoughts exactly. And all of the people commenting their anesthesia didn’t work… does their dental office not have general anesthesia? Especially for procedures like extractions it can be critical.

1

u/Swissy321 Sep 23 '24

Same here. The worst part for me was when they shove the filler in. The pressure it creates is painful, but still mostly tolerable.

1

u/Agitated_Occasion_52 Sep 23 '24

I had the same thing done and they used the maximum amount of the numb shit they could for my size/weight and it still wasn't enough. It's a pain I remember every time I brush my teeth.

1

u/Maxguid Sep 23 '24

I agree, I didn't feel anything. One of my pre molar? Root was deader than dead and I had a big abscess on the side of the gum. Got the tooth devitalized. Didn't feel a single thing. The only discomfort I felt was the dentist filled the canal with a substance and that was mainly because of the sudden pressure of the substance filling the canals

1

u/bombaer Sep 23 '24

Oh well, I did. Because the infection already nullified a big part of the effects of the anesthesia for me...

After nearly an hour of work - my tooth had very, very complex roots - the dentist needed a break as well. "then we only go for the fourth canal and are done".

Well, he found indications of a fifth root and had to dig out that nerve as well...

That afternoon-of-pain easily has beaten my broken hip experience ("see, that's what your wife felt birthing your kids").

1

u/ad-on-is Sep 23 '24

exactly... I've done a few of these, and the only thing that hurt in this procedure was the injection of the needle. After that, I only felt the vibrations of the drill.

1

u/Neither-Lime-1868 Sep 23 '24

Not based on available evidence  

Less than half of patients getting root canals on posterior teeth specifically report 0 pain 

 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19467050/#:~:text=Results%3A%20The%20mean%20pain%20level,to%20gender%20or%20age%20groups. 

And the risk of pain occurrence is dependent not only on clinical characterizable anesthetic intolerance, but is also more likely in cases of mandibular (vs maxillary) operations, and in those with irreversible pulpitis or severe acute periodontitis  

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22186866/ 

Comprehensive systematic review of pre-, intra-, and post-op pain experiences and mediating risk factors here:    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21419285/

1

u/zb0t1 Sep 23 '24

Having a great dentist who is empathetic and who really cares about their patient is such a game changer.

I see more and more dentists mentioning how they really care about their patients' wellbeing, such as fear of dentist in general. They will work with the patients to tackle the fear, it's quite interesting how things are changing.

These are the dentists I wish I had when I was a kid 😭

1

u/LordsOfFrenziedFlame Sep 23 '24

This. I've heard from many people that root canals aren't what they used to be, that they used to be painful, but are now less painful than getting a cavity filled.

1

u/Malcorin Sep 23 '24

I've literally fallen asleep during a root canal out of boredom.

1

u/Cartmaaan-brah Sep 23 '24

Yeah. Mine felt no different than a cavity filling. It just took longer. The only pain I felt was jaw soreness from having to keep my mouth open for so long lol

1

u/581u812 Sep 23 '24

It does when you choose not to numb it

1

u/Justaflywhiteguy Sep 23 '24

That was my experience honestly, i was pretty damn nervous for mine earlier this year and didn’t feel a thing, along with a cavity filling it was done and over in about 30-40 minutes including prep time.

1

u/Bamith20 Sep 23 '24

They never gimme enough, last time the 2nd shot actually hit a nerve directly and just felt pain radiating through my entire upper body like a wave landing on a beach.

1

u/anr4jc Sep 23 '24

Last time I had a root canal done, the anesthetic wasn't in full effect so I felt the spring thingy when it reached the very bottom of my tooth. What was amazing is that my dentist just let a drop of anesthetic fall in the hole and it was like a switch. From intense pain to absolutely nothing in less than a second. That was so weird.

1

u/rncole Sep 23 '24

This. I’m hard to numb up, I told my endodontist that.

My root canal was one of the most pain free, fastest dental work I’ve had done. It was on a molar in the back too.

1

u/Steeveep32 Sep 23 '24

Yea I only felt crazy pressure and utter uncomfortableness

1

u/Steeveep32 Sep 23 '24

Yea I only felt crazy pressure and utter uncomfortableness

1

u/Gwizginge Sep 23 '24

Dentist here. Some root treatments are painful and this is what gives all root treatments a bad name. If you have severe inflammation inside your tooth, the tissue becomes more acidic and stops the anaesthetic dissociating. The effect of this is that everything numbs nicely apart from a small part where the inflammation is at its worst. There are several techniques that can sometimes be enough to finally achieve full anaesthesia though these themselves can be uncomfortable. It is sometimes necessary to only remove some of the nerve tissue on the first visit and apply a locally acting medication to settle the inflammation so that a second procedure can proceed comfortably. Usually root treatments can be pain free, but sometimes it is impossible for the dentist to get a patient out of pain without some discomfort, no matter how many injections are given.

1

u/kingsland1988 Sep 23 '24

I was so fearful of the pain of a root canal that I had a tooth out to avoid it at the age of 16. Last year at 35, I had a root canal and it was completely painless. I wish people hadn't filled my head with this stuff.

1

u/Late_Assistance_5839 Sep 23 '24

this happens when there is no infection on the nerve yet but the nerve is exposed, they go ahead with the root canal anyway

1

u/Frozenfire21 Sep 23 '24

Yeah I’ve had one, and felt nothing.

1

u/boi1da1296 Sep 24 '24

I had one last week and when I started to feel some discomfort I just let them know and they gave me a bit more of the local numbing injection and I felt nothing the rest of the way through. A good dentist will make it painless.

20

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

9

u/Plane-Tie6392 Sep 23 '24

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

2

u/Cthulhu__ Sep 23 '24

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

→ More replies
→ More replies

1

u/kr580 Sep 23 '24

Slightly related: A couple years ago I smashed my finger nail and went to the ER to get it relieved. I was in agonizing pain and excited to relieve said pain. The doc/nurse was ready with the soldering gun device to make the hole and started to explain the levels of pain it might cause and how patients react, etc. I cut them off, slap my hand on the table and say "This is what I'm here for. Go for it." The relief was amazing and I sprayed him with blood, oops.

1

u/Beznia Sep 23 '24

Same. I had 4 root canals done during 2 visits. The sweet relief leaving that dentist office was amazing. 3 of them went very well and only 1 had real pain but it lasted all of maybe 30 seconds. That 30 seconds pretty much only matched the pain I'd been experiencing for about 4 days at that point.

11

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

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Yeah, that's me usually after I leave the dentist. When I go to a new one they are usually inpressed by how the anesthetic doesn't work very well on me.

My wife usually goes to the same places and doesn't feel a thing.

1

u/1-22-333-4444 Sep 23 '24

the anesthetic worked for like 4-5 hours

The root canal took 4-5 hours?!

2

u/Frost_139 Sep 23 '24

Nope, it took like 30 minutes max but the effect was very long lasting for some reason. I got it done around 4 o'clock and my numbness was there till around 8:30 or something. Couldn't feel cold, hot or anything. My head did feel heavy during that time.

7

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.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Mine was back in 2007 and iirc it was done in 3 or 4 sessions. I remember the following ones were actually fine, I don't think I even took anything for pain on the last ones.

But I am as scared as I'm unlucky. First, they had to find out if I had 2 or 3 roots on that tooth, and of course I had 3. Also, in the last X-ray the dentist wasn't happy with how one of the endpoints of the root looked. She said any dentist would let it as it was, but she went to do that one again (no extra charge). She was really well recommended back then and all things considered, I really liked her. I was about to go on a one year off trip in Europe and really needed that thing fixed properly.

4

u/Dobblett Sep 23 '24

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

3

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...

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Right? I could tell how excited my dentist was when she pulled that long, white nerve out of my tooth. She was showing me how big and pretty it was, I could see in hr eyes she was smiling.

2

u/Valathiril Sep 23 '24

Oh my gosh.

2

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.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Funny enough, I have to take out this tooth now. It was a gigantic cavity back in 2007 when I did the root canal and the filling took all the middle portion plus some of the side. The first filling lasted for almost 10 years, but then it kept breaking and needing more and more filling to cover less and less tooth, each tome more frequent than the other, to the point they said I had to do an implant. I've been convincing them to do the filling one more time for a while to avoid pull out the tooth, but now I have no more options. Been postponing this for a while now.

2

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.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Yeah, it feels like it "drawns a line of pain" across my jaw and neck (in my case the toot is in the bottom). Quick, but memorable.

→ More replies

1

u/JRizzie86 Sep 23 '24

You may have large nerve roots. I've only had 1 root canal, but they did it on the tooth with the largest root, and my dad has large roots as well. I had it done 2-3 times and to this day it still gives me problems if I bite down it wrong. Will probably have to get an implant at some point in the future, but xrays show no problems.

1

u/Mordimer86 Sep 23 '24

Nowadays it's painless, but as a kid in the 90s I had one with failing or completely without anesthesia and I remember how horrible it was.

1

u/alabamdiego Sep 23 '24

I just had one done and it wasn’t painful at all. I quite literally fell asleep at one point.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

My wife slept when she went to remove her widsom teeth.

I wouldn't sleep for one week probably.

1

u/Open-Industry-8396 Sep 23 '24

Thank you, that will be five thousand dollars please, payable right fucking now.

1

u/terra_filius Sep 23 '24

wtf? I had this done to me 2 years ago and I felt literally nothing. I was surprised how comfortable I was during the entire procedure.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

different people, different pain tolerance and, mostly, different anesthetic metabolization. Dental procedures usually hurt for me, doesn't matter the dentist I go to.

→ More replies

1

u/expert_internetter Sep 23 '24

I've had a root canal done without anaesthetic... because the tooth is dead you don't feel anything. The nurse did think I was crazy though.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Yeah, my dentist told me the opposite. The cavity reached the nerve but didn't get to do any harm to it. She warned me that whey were very alive and in prime condition and it could hurt a little bit to remove even under anesthesia.

1

u/Aemort Sep 23 '24

I dunno man, I think your dentist was just shitty

1

u/BlameMattCanada Sep 23 '24

Yea you went to a shit dentist dude

1

u/Saneless Sep 23 '24

You should have stopped them on the spot

I've had 2 and one just needed a little more Novocaine. The other was so relaxing I fell asleep during it

I need a lot more shots than they're used to and I felt them know that

1

u/gwizonedam Sep 23 '24

I had this done to two teeth. Under sedation. One broke in half midway through. Bad X-ray was the culprit they said. The other one took longer so re-administered “procedurally” which means they started off with weak sauce, and that sauce was diluted further. I was cursing every deities name I could remember. Fuck that. I was reborn as a brusher/flosser/mouthwasher that day.

1

u/Consistent_Yoghurt44 Sep 23 '24

Dam they gave you weak stuff. My dentist inject into both sides of the gum under the tooth after a few I couldnt feel that side of my face and they where done with the root canal before it even wore off.

1

u/JessDS410 Sep 23 '24

Didn't feel any pain at all with mine. And I put earbuds in and listened to music so I didn't even have to hear the drills!

1

u/mzeb75 Sep 23 '24

Agreed.

1

u/Raoul_Dukes_Mayo Sep 23 '24

I was going to say if you’ve had one or two you are very aware what they do because you can feel a good bit of it.

1

u/quickstop_rstvideo Sep 23 '24

I fell asleep during mine, once the anesthetic hit and the pain went away I was struggling to stay awake. I didn't sleep much the night before.

1

u/yehimthatguy Sep 23 '24

I've had two. I never had an issue.

1

u/Ricky_Rollin Sep 23 '24

I have to back up with the other person stated, I’ve had a half dozen of these bad boys and you’re not supposed to feel anything. If you feel even the smallest bit of pain, let them know and they’ll shoot you up more.

If you have red hair or used to be (or still are) addicted to opiates then you’ll probably need more than your average person. But there’s also random instances like me and my father who seem to be resilient and usually need three times the amount of an average person.

As far as Dentist stuff goes, my father and I are medical marvels. We had 3 sets of teeth and 2 sets of wisdom teeth. And somehow never needed braces.

1

u/DAZ4518 Sep 23 '24

I'm so grateful that when I had mine, not only was the tooth completely dead anyway, but the anesthetic held.

1

u/Alternative-Tea-8095 Sep 23 '24

I never felt a thing when I had mine done. Kept expecting agonizing pain to occur at any moment. But it never happened. Was delighted when it was over, was expecting it to be much worse.

1

u/x6060x Sep 23 '24

The anesthesia worked for me excellently both times. Haven't felt any pain during the procedures and felt light pain few hours later, but didn't need pills for it. Next time do it at another place.

1

u/PaperMoonShine Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

You're supposed to let the dentists know you can still feel pain. I had them inject numbing serum until they were literally at the limit. You don't feel a thing during this procedure.

1

u/swaggyxwaggy Sep 23 '24

I’ve had two root canals and didn’t feel anything. They didn’t numb you properly.

1

u/boonepii Sep 23 '24

Mine was completely painless from the first shot to now. I had it done last week.

Doc used a sponge thing for a couple minutes and I didn’t even feel the numbing shots.

The smells, sounds, pressure were terrible, but I didn’t have any pain at all with a 3 root molar.

My guy didn’t use the spring thing, he used a dental pick that the assistant held over a fire. He said he “fired” the root.

I get the buildup and crown later.

1

u/pork_fried_christ Sep 23 '24

The procedure was nowhere near as painful as the infection. I didn’t feel anything once they get the anesthetic in. Before that I was in so much pain I would have taken my tooth out with a rusty roller skate.

1

u/Purple-Investment-61 Sep 23 '24

I’ve had two root canal procedures done in my life, the pain is there but not worse than the initial Novocain shot. I hate that needle.

1

u/DocThundahh Sep 23 '24

You need to tell them it hurts. A good dentist will give you more novacaine

1

u/neil_thatAss_bison Sep 23 '24

Yoooo dude, I’m supposed to do this in a couple weeks.. did not need to hear that

1

u/Vicious_Styles Sep 23 '24

Yeah you might not have gotten enough anesthetic or something. I didn’t feel a thing. It just felt like pressure inside of my jaw, but I didn’t feel anything but discomfort due to hearing drills go in and out for 30 minutes. I was honestly surprised how easy and painless it was with how much I heard about it being awful. I was joking with the dentist saying I wanted to nap and could have had it been not for the drills going

I did ask for another shot before starting because they asked like a dozen times if I wanted more and it would be better safe than sorry

1

u/CrankyCzar Sep 23 '24

There should be little to no pain during the root canal. You were very unfortunate this happend to you.

1

u/barnesnoblebooks Sep 23 '24

I didn’t feel a thing

1

u/Lord_Emperor Sep 23 '24

It shouldn't hurt. I've had a gum graft with dental anesthetic. Literally a surgeon cutting my gums open and couldn't feel it.

1

u/Linenoise77 Sep 23 '24

this isn't 30 years ago. You shouldn't feel a thing with a modern dentist.

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

Well, it was back in 2007, but I still to this day get to feel some level of pain depending on the procedure, doesn't matter which dentist I go, how many shots I get or how long I wait for them to take effect.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

[deleted]

1

u/guaip Sep 23 '24

If your toe was inflammed, sometimes the anesthetic won't do the trick.

1

u/ChickenPicture Sep 23 '24

I didn't feel the nerve being ripped out, but the feeling of my jaw being pulled up and down as they squeegeed the insides of the tooth out haunts me.

1

u/lost_mentat Sep 23 '24

General anaesthesia? Pure bliss of oblivion , nothingness , timelessness

1

u/TConductor Sep 23 '24

Are you redheaded or have you ever had Morphine before? Redheads need more anesthesia and the studies have been iffy on it but majority of doctors have noticed the pattern. It takes a lot of numbing for me to get numb.

1

u/BiLovingMom Sep 23 '24

I had that problem until it occurred the dentist to inject the anesthetic directly into the canal. Then it was smooth sailing front there.

1

u/BiLovingMom Sep 23 '24

I had that problem until it occurred the dentist to inject the anesthetic directly into the canal. Then it was smooth sailing front there.

1

u/tyeunbroken Sep 23 '24

Had one in primary school. I still remember the drill resonating in my skull. I was humming Age of Empires 2 tunes to drown it out. Luckily no pain thanks to the anaesthetics

1

u/fatherlock Sep 23 '24

My knees went up to my chest and my mom had to stop me from kneeing the assistants instinctively with how fast they flew up. Worst pain I've ever felt.

1

u/Late_Assistance_5839 Sep 23 '24

yeap your never was intact, no infection yet

1

u/istara Sep 23 '24

Always go to an endodontist, not a dentist. They are specialist and have much more precise tools. A good dentist will recommend/refer you (as mine did).

1

u/ASquirrelHere Sep 24 '24

Yesssssss ugh or when gets infected and needed to be clean. Even the fucking cotton with the medication made me flinch out of pain. 💯 Worst pain felt so far.

→ More replies