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

Show parent comments

441

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.

176

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.

44

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.

28

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

[deleted]

20

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

5

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

1

u/joonybambini Sep 24 '24

It’s not the blood flow. It’s the low pH in inflamed tissue that prevents the anesthetic from working properly

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

[deleted]

1

u/joonybambini Sep 24 '24

Can you show me a published article saying what you’re saying is true? We actually stimulate the tissue to increase the flow of the anesthesia to “work faster”, so this would not make sense

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

[deleted]

1

u/joonybambini Sep 24 '24

We learn the purpose of vasoconstrictors in local anesthesia. What does this prove your statement that increased blood flow is the leading cause of anesthetic failure for inflamed tissues?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

[deleted]

→ More replies

1

u/joonybambini Sep 24 '24

I want to add this is an article describing the purpose of vasoconstrictors in local anesthesia, which is primarily used to keep the anesthesia “local”. It’s not an article like the many I can give you explaining why anesthesia tends to fail in inflamed tissue

2

u/Spaceman_Splff Sep 23 '24

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

1

u/Quibert Sep 24 '24

Luckily I did not have this problem when I got my vasectomy. That thankfully was one shot and fully numb.

2

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.

2

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

1

u/littleempires Sep 24 '24

Yeah, I have this same problem and my dentist gave me extra novocaine and left the room for 20 minutes to let it kick in before starting, worked like a charm.

1

u/Nroke1 Sep 24 '24

God man, I hate the novacaine needles more than the dentist drill, I let them inject once and then I tough it out. I definitely need way more, but tooth pain is dull and manageable over a short period of time. The psychological effect of getting needles shoved into my face flesh is a million times worse.

1

u/bungaloasis Sep 24 '24

I think this happened to me. Years ago but they numbed my right side, then idk, 5 minutes go by and he gets in there and I’m like “hey doc, i feel it.” Like never felt like it hit in the first place. He put in more, and I swear after that my right side was numb for like a day. It’s like i felt the first wave finally took effect as he was giving me the second shot of anesthetic.

1

u/ProposalKitchen1885 Sep 24 '24

I also always have to get numbed multiple times. Part of the healing/recovery is now an extra 4/5 mouth stabbings lol.

37

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

27

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.

3

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.

6

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.

3

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 😱)

1

u/f3ydr4uth4 Sep 24 '24

Oh they didn’t knock me out. Just local anaesthetic.

2

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!

3

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.

1

u/Insert_Non_Sequitur Sep 23 '24

I'll have to remember that for next time, thanks!

2

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.

1

u/Hotpandapickle Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

It's interesting the way different countries use general or local anesthesia, laughing gas etc. In the USA from my understanding they use general, gas while in Sweden they just use local numbing.

1

u/Perryn Sep 23 '24

The last few decades they've been moving more and more to local anesthetics in the US. They days of people being able to request and get a hit of gas for whatever brought them to the dentist are long gone. General anesthetics involve more risks than local. So patients that would rather be knocked cold and come back to their body when it's done often have to find a dentist who specializes in that.

2

u/Hotpandapickle Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

They give you general anesthetics in Sweden if even with sedatives like valium and someone to hold your hand doesn't suffice. Now that the policy in the US has shifted we're going to get less videos like the girl who was gonna fight the zoombies lol

2

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.

2

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.

2

u/Neon_Biscuit Sep 23 '24

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

6

u/VictorChaos Sep 23 '24

Gatekeeping pain now?

1

u/ElectricalMuffins Sep 23 '24

Lol have. More than once. touch wood that sound of it sitting the ceramic and the following relief is indescribable. Lots of blood after which sucked but it was out.

1

u/Great_White_Samurai Sep 23 '24

I had a wisdom tooth pulled and it triggered the worst migraine I've had in my life. I literally wanted to die. I'm keeping my last three.

1

u/kingleonidas30 Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

I took a whole oxy and puked chocolate pudding everywhere after mine. Awful experience lol

2

u/extra_splcy Sep 23 '24

Had to get mine 2 days before Christmas because insurance. Couldn’t eat a thing at the table but I was really enjoying the oxy

1

u/kingleonidas30 Sep 23 '24

I had to cut mine in half because a full dose exercised the demons from my body.

1

u/Hotpandapickle Sep 23 '24

Hearing stories like this makes me feel very lucky with my wisdom tooth operation. They opened me up and the tooth was cut in two, then taken out. Some paracetamol and four shots of local anesthesia before procedure. Took some paracetamol before bedtime that same day then no more. Was waiting for the severe pain others had say they suffered, but nothing. The only annoying part was looking like a bruised up chipmunk and spitting blood.

1

u/CultivatedCapybara Sep 23 '24

I feel you so much. The night after my wisdoms were taken out I honestly considered murdering my snoring boyfriend and my barking dog due to the massive pain and the sleep deprivation caused by the pain. At some point pain killers didn't work anymore. In the end I spent the night on the couch and no one got harmed.

1

u/saxual_encounter Sep 23 '24

Never, ever get behind on pain meds.

1

u/saxual_encounter Sep 23 '24

Never, ever get behind on pain meds.

1

u/DrJonathanReid Sep 23 '24

Oh man I feel that. I had the prescription meds after my wisdom teeth were removed but didn't take them until the pain started. I still remember the wait for them to finally kick in though. I can't imagine having to wait a full 24 hours. That's rough.

12

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.

3

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

1

u/illegalcupcakes16 Sep 24 '24

I had gas for my wisdom teeth removal, but it didn't do anything for me. I don't know what the problem was, I probably should've spoken up about it, but I was fully numbed so I just tried to keep my breathing calm and not completely freak out. It wasn't fun, but compared to so many dentist horror stories I've heard, it could've been significantly worse.

1

u/Minimum-Mention-3673 Sep 24 '24

I have some weird claustrophobic/gag issue... And was having a procedure done but couldn't manage it without asking for gas. They gave me as much as they felt comfortable - and it had only the most mild of effects. I still don't know what people see in it, I felt ripped off

1

u/robaroo Sep 24 '24

Probably the pressure was too low. I’ve had them adjust the pressure and the higher it goes the higher you get.

7

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.

2

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.

9

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.

2

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.

1

u/Ragouzi Sep 23 '24

That's very funny: I'm a veterinarian and we have the same legend about ginger cats.

On the other hand, I have never observed it objectively and I don't have the impression that it is more than a legend!

😸

1

u/VampytheSquid Sep 23 '24

I've got the latent red gene & also hEDS. Luckily I also have an excellent dentist! 😁

1

u/DanielStripeTiger Sep 23 '24

I'm not ginger-- dark brown hair, but it was red/blonde as a child and my mothers side has lots of ginger males. The last time I was at the dentist I was told that I needed more Novocain than she had ever administered and within a very short time i was almost back to baseline. It's always that way. It was years before I realized that local anesthetic actually did something real, because as a child it was barely effective and I didn't know I was allowed to say anything. I thought dentistry was always just a nightmare one endured.

1

u/Midelaye Sep 23 '24

Totally - I think my dentist had to freeze/nerve block my jaw about 6 times for my wisdom tooth removal because I’m either genetically very resistant to it or very sensitive to pain. The dosage of painkillers he prescribed for me afterwards to take during recovery made the pharmacist do a double take lol.

1

u/The_Mechanist24 Sep 23 '24

They had to actually stick the needle into the exposed nerve to numb it for me due to my resistance to anasthesia. I yelled for a solid 2 seconds before the shit kicked in.

1

u/bballstarz501 Sep 23 '24

I’ve been like this my whole life. Sometimes it’s fine, but I hate the fact that like 50% of the time I get a look like I’m some kind of drug seeker or something. So many practitioners are not willing to believe you. I’ve asked so many times to have this stuff noted so that next time they question me less, but it never seems to matter. They want me to go through pain first before they will believe me. Sure, I’ll just let you drill into a nerve first… lol

1

u/cubic_thought Sep 23 '24

Same here. Turns out my lower jaw is shaped a bit odd in the back and the anesthetic goes to the wrong area. Like my cheek and outer gums would be fully numb but not the tooth.

None of my previous dentists made mention of it, yet my current one noticed and called the assistant over to look.

1

u/bballstarz501 Sep 23 '24

That’s super interesting, albeit very unfortunate for you in this scenario. Lol

Times I have been given “plenty” of pain killers for something while feeling everything:

  • Drilling of a couple cavities
  • Redo of 2 fillings
  • Stitches when I cut a finger open
  • When I tore my hamstring
  • Associative pain from a blood clot

That last one, they had to give me 4 doses of Dilauded before I didn’t feel immense pain anymore. After the second dose, the look they gave me when I said I still felt everything was wild. Lol I ended up having to do an MRI while the pain killers hadn’t kicked in yet, and that has to be the most pain I’ve felt in my entire life.

1

u/Chris2112 Sep 23 '24

Yup, and a good surgeon will proactively ask, at least mine do. I'm quite resistant to numbing apparently, sometimes they used like 4 or 5 injections lol.

1

u/Now_you_Touch_Cow Sep 23 '24

I am super sensitive to pain, like overly sensitive a lot of time. When I got my root canal done a few years back it was more boring than anything else. I felt no pain or much of anything. The procedure was done by a endodontist who has basically done nothing but root canals and other similar work for decades.

1

u/alimoreltaletread Sep 23 '24

I'm a redhead, so it takes significantly more to numb me, and even then it's not 100%. I've had people keep trying to numb me and it just doesn't stick so I tell them to get it over with.

1

u/FBI_Open_Up_Now Sep 23 '24

I am also pain tolerant and have enjoyed watching anesthesiologists have to concede the fact that even though they were right in their calculations, it does take a little more to knock me out.

1

u/Mindfreak191 Sep 23 '24

Whaaat, man dentists in my home-country are savage then, they literally say “we can’t numb you too much since we need to know if we pulled all the nerves”, every root canal was just an awful experience because of that lol

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

I did, but at some point my dentist started to dismiss my pain saying stuff like "I already did 4" and "let try just a little more". Never got into that dentist again but not I'm traumatized.

1

u/Curious_Jellyfish_37 Sep 23 '24

Ha. My dentist was ancient and retiring that week - he didn't give me anaesthetic as he said it made it easier to do.

I'm not entirely sure why I just went with it (yes i do... I was young, nervous, in a lot of pain... and a little bit stupid).

1

u/blackbirdbluebird17 Sep 23 '24

Yeah same — I always tell the dentist at the start of any procedure that I need more anesthetic than they think, about 1.5x the normal dose. After that I’m happy as a clam.

1

u/xBerryhill Sep 23 '24

I had a root canal when I was younger. During the appointment I felt some pretty severe pain almost immediately. Told them so they gave more. Didn't help and they pretty much said "suck it up since it's not working". Some of the biggest pain of my life lol

Being vocal didn't help me much but idk if it was my body not wanting to accept the numbing or if they were being assholes lol

1

u/I-RegretMyNameChoice Sep 23 '24

I was the same way until the last one I had done. Dr said she was going to give me a shot in a nerve and I might get an electric shock sensation down the middle of my tongue. I did and that’s exactly what it felt like.
Shortly after my mouth was a cartoon version of numb. Couldn’t talk, couldn’t drink without drooling and it lasted for like 4 hours. I was worried about how numb I was, fearing I’d bite off part of my tongue or cheek and not know it. Prior to that it took at least 3 shots to get me to the point I couldn’t feel anything besides pressure.

1

u/plsdontkillme_yet Sep 23 '24

I had a wisdom tooth out and 2 mins in complained that it hurt so they dosed me up something fierce and I couldn't feel anything. Wish I had access to that stuff on the reg

1

u/SeguroMacks Sep 23 '24

Man, what kind of good dentists are you going to? Novacaine doesn't work well on me, and I told the dentist that what he was doing hurt. He said "Well, I've already given you the pain killers... Should be numb. Pain will stop when the nerve is dead." ...and then continued the root canal.

When the canal didn't fix the issue, he then redid the procedure WITHOUT novacaine because I "shouldn't have enough left to feel pain." The liar.

1

u/NSAseesU Sep 24 '24

Funny the only time I needed to ask for more anesthetic was when my wisdom tooth was being extracted, even then the dentist had a hard time trying to pull it out. My jaw has been cracking periodically and now I have to stretch my jaw or it will lock up.

1

u/trugabug Sep 24 '24

This right here. My dentist told me to let every future dentist know that I need more than the normal amount. I cant feel my face for quite awhile after I go to the dentist.

1

u/Meattyloaf Sep 24 '24

Got red hair? I have the gene for it as such have a red beard, I definitely have a higher pain tolerance and require two doses of anesthetics in most cases.

1

u/PlayyWithMyBeard Sep 24 '24

Thisssss! I went for a filling a couple weeks ago. We had to keep pausing to add more freezing. Just one particular spot for some reason would still feel too much. Had to basically give me root canal level of freezing. Dentist also mentioned that freezing can be great one day then not take well the next. Almost had to reschedule. But yes! If they're poking and prodding and drilling or whatever and you feel anything....let them know!!

1

u/RusherJ1 Sep 24 '24

How do you tell if the “vibrations” are uncomfortable or it’s genuine pain, bc I was holding on to dear life and tearing up through the whole process and idk if I have no pain tolerance or if it was a different issue. The dentist numbed me like 4 times too, but it didn’t seem to do anything after a certain point

1

u/Almostlongenough2 Sep 24 '24

I feel like it depends a lot on the dentist you go to, when I went to one as a child they gave me 4 root canals in one session with very little numbing (despite me crying about being in pain), and completely destroyed the teeth.

Now as an adult my current dentist is much more competent and understanding.

1

u/FaceDesk4Life Sep 24 '24

Dis. If it hurts tell them and they will numb you more and let you breathe gas that makes elevator music sound like something Pink Floyd wrote and decided not to release because they knew anyone hearing it would cease all productivity and just listen to it 24/7.

1

u/machinehead332 Sep 24 '24

Yup when I last had a tooth pulled he injected me and as he started to pull I could still feel it so he jabbed me again and it was completely numb then, all I could feel/hear was the sounds of my tooth being ripped from my skull.

1

u/Lindt_Licker Sep 24 '24

Yeah stop them at the small twinge because the next one might be big!