root canal

[chatterbox54]

Hi
Have not posted in a while. I wondered if anyone could answer my query. Years ago I had root canal treatment and it was fine. I needed another root filling done but unlike the previous one, this was quite painful. I was given three injections and as they drilled deeper and deeper the pain set in so they did not do it and did an ordinary filling instead. This time (a month ago) I needed another one and the same problem occurred. I was give four injections and it still could not be done. I am fine with ordinary fillings but when drilling deeper no matter how many injections they give me, I still feel pain. The dentist said that nerves can change over the years and can no longer be numbed like they used to. I had an ordinary filling on the tooth and the dentist who is very good said that was ok but I was told that if I ever get into a situation where I simply cannot get away with having an ordinary filling on a tooth and they MUST do root canal, then she will have to refer me to a specialist because as good as she is, if I cannot be numbed up enough for deeper drilling then they may have to put me out and I got the impression she cannot do that at the surgery. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told I am a nervous patient but when other work is done I am not nervous but I am certainly nervous when root canal treatments need to be done because of the pain and I think even the dentist herself would be nervous if she knew that she could not be numbed up enough. I have no other problem with the dentist other than this

I have to have sedation for this kind of work, and it makes it so much easier I cant imagine how I managed before.
Surely if you need a root canal, the filling is only temporary, and your dentist should already have referred you to the sedation clinic? Don't wait until you have problems, get it sorted asap.

I have a similar issue and was told it was because I have large and deep roots.

I feel it as they drill down. The last one I had they had to numb it up as best they good and then inject into the tooth as they drilled (drill a bit, inject, drill a bit more etc). Still help it but could get through it whereas the first attempt was so bad they had to stop.

my dentist is very good and she sorted out a bad filing that was done by a previous dentist and she discovered he had not drilled it out properly and left decay in the tooth. I complained to the previous dentist and they gave me my money back plus the money I paid for the new dentist to put it right. I was so thankful that she was the only one out of three dentists I went to about this problem (bad toothache) who knew what the issue was. The other dentists wanted me to have the tooth or root filed. They never bothered to even look at the tooth inside to see exactly what it was like and if they had, they would have noticed decay left. How can a dentist leave decay in a tooth? Dentists who do that should be struck off