Root canal - is it as bad as people keep telling me?

[majorcrowdpleaser]

I am booked in to have root canal tomorrow and am petrified. I know a few people who have had it done and say they were fine but also quite a few who pull as face and proceed to tell me their horror stories including a lady at the supermarket checkout who told me she would rather give birth again!

I have a real fear of the dentist and it does'nt help that the dentist is very quite and says as little as possible which doesn't help with my anxieties.

He says that he will only need to perform the root canal on one root of the tooth not the two but apart from that has'nt explained much else like how long it will take (wish I'd asked but wanted to get out asap!).

I am also wondering whether I should'nt just get the tooth removed. Its one of the bottom premolars so would'nt really show and that must be a cheaper option?

no, its fine. It's much worse getting one removed!

I dozed off during mine

No it was fine. And I had a really tricky situation so it took 9 visits (hidden extra roots in my teeth, pregnancy and the new crown splitting when it was being fitted so a fairly specific set of circs). But they were all fine. Not painful. Just uncomfortable and tedious.

Not at all! I was petrified too.

It just takes a while but with the anesthetic you don't feel a thing!

Mine was fine too , like cece I could have nodded off (through boredom ! ) took painkillers after just in case but was painfree. It was a tricky one too apparently . I am also a wimp !!

It should be totally fine

im terrified of the dentist. i was in agony so went to the emergency dentist. he did the crap bit of the root treatment for me and the anaesthetic didn't have time to take as it was time limited. It hurt but was bearable and stopped the pain....now just saving up to go private to finish the job.

had absolutely no pain. honestly! just boring!

My husband had root canal treatment earlier this year , our actual dentist wouldn't do it and sent him to a local specialist and it was fine , he had one done years ago at a different dentist and the recent experience was much better ( and surprisingly cheaper) .

Honestly, it was a piece of cake. Just a little longer than normal, but no pain. Mind over matter. You'll be grand!

I found the root canal absolutely fine. Tbh I always think giving birth wasn't as bad as my tooth pain pre-canal, so for me anything that could end that misery was amazing.
Once you're numb it doesn't hurt and if you explain you're nervous they might take a little more time to explain the procedure and it won't be too scary.

I also had the horrified faces and it fucked me right off. Just like the pre birth misery fucking parade. Some people just like to shit on your chips.
Good luck, you'll be fine.

Thanks all thats good to know :)

I have a fear of the dentist. I've also had root canal and I promise you it was not painful. There was a bit of drilling etc (similar to getting a filling) but if you zone out and try to relax, it will be fine

Yes I have to say would much rather go through childbirth than this tooth pain its so bad :(

I had mine done during my lunch break at work. No problems at all. You will be fine.

The pain before the root canal was awful. Once the root was killed off (it had been bleeding into a filling and built up pressure as well as the pain of infection) in a previous visit, the actual root canal had no sensation at all. It was boring to lie back with my mouth as wide open as possible for over an hour, but that was all.

i've got to have one too

how long in the chair? does anyone - who stayed awake - know :)

Mine was so fine I had to ask, 'Are you sure that was the root canal treatment that everyone talks about?' So don't worry.

(And I speak as someone who used to write down if I had any tooth problems and hand the note to my dentist. If I didn't do that, I couldn't stop myself shaking my head and saying, 'No, everything's fine, thanks!!')

Completely fine, no different to a filling imo.

It's fine honestly. I had to have one in my front tooth!
They basically numb you, drill a little hole in the tooth, suck out your dead root and pop a little wooden thing in it (like a matchstick) then a mini filling to seal it in.
Or at least that's what they did on mine 10 years ago

i had a double root canal after falling down the stairs in the middle of the night and breaking my face. it was fine, honestly. one of my front teeth is a bit discoloured but i can have it crowned (is that the right thing?) if i want. i might get a silver one.

oh, and i don't drink any more! funnily enough, i haven't had an injury at all in the 2 years since i quit.

so yeah. root canal is fine.

It takes about an hour

ok thanks fanjo

I went for an hour at first but had to go back for another 30 mins as I was a complicated case and had very narrow roots....