Root canal.. scared of dentist...how bad is it?

[Sonolanona]

After 2 weeks of pain I finally got to see the dentist and he says I have pulpitis and will need a root canal in a couple of weeks ..I'm now on antibiotics and as many painkillers as I can take!
The tooth that has the problem is at the top.. hideously sensitive to hot cold, anything but I'm also getting pain at the bottom which apparently may be referred pain.
I HATE the dentists..it's the sound of the drill that petrifies me.
Honestly, how bad is it going to be?

Honestly? Th cost will be the worse bit.

ive had several root canals. The absolute relief of the pain going away once the root canal is done is indescribable

I’ve had two and they were absolutely fine. I had no pain and the only part I didn’t like was the taste of the wash they used to clean the area.

Really reassuring post for the OP!!

I’ve got this coming up also

Your wallet will hurt more than your mouth, and the relief of being pain free is worth it.

If you really are anxious they can prescribe temazepan.

i had one for a crown...totally painless x

The name (and the cost) is worse than the procedure! I was dreading it, but no need 🙂

Take paracetamol before you go so you already have it in your system when the injection wears off and you’ll be fine. You’ll probably want to keep taking a bit of pain relief for a day or so but the pain will be so much less than what you have now.

I also get nervous at the dentist so I take earbuds with me, pop one in and listen to a podcast while they do it. I’ve explained and they were fine - helps distract from the noise etc.

Genuinely I was terrified but once it was numbed it was no worse than a filling. Only thing that hurt was my jaw from holding my mouth open for ages (and as pp have said, my wallet)

Take headphones. I do this for any treatment (massively phobic). Absolutely brilliant.

If you take any antidepressants, let the dentist know some of them affect the anaesthesia, and it won't work as well. It's not commonly known and I didn't realise this was the reason for my awful root canal until years later.

I had one a year or so ago. It was absolutely fine! At one point there was a tiny bit of pain but nothing severe and only for an instant. It just takes a while.
From what my dentist said I think the techniques and materials have moved on and part of its bad reputation is based on how it used to be a few decades ago rather than what it is like these days.

I'm scared of dental treatment and had a root canal and it was fine, no worse than a filling really and they numb you up well so you don't feel a thing.
One tip is to make sure you eat before the appt as the anaesthetic contains adrenaline so it can make some people a little shaky, and having eaten helps with that.
Take headphones and listen to relaxing music or an audiobook, stay physically relaxed and it will pass quicky enough.

Thank you all so much!!!!! I feel less terrified now!