Due to poor life choices, I’ve had six.

I had a really good dentist and none of them were a big deal in terms of pain or discomfort. Just boring sitting there for long periods waiting for it to be done. I closed my eyes and meditated into a half doze. Good luck!

Don’t worry. I’ve had a lot of work done on my front teeth due to an accident when I was a child. Eventually needed root canals on both.

Honestly those root canals weren’t even as bad as cavity fillings.

Most painful part, as others have said, will be the numbing injections. If you still feel pain, let them know and they’ll give you more (different people have different levels).

Make sure to ask for a bite block so you don’t have to hold your mouth open, that’ll help a lot.

They might even let you listen to music, audiobook, or podcast, depending on your dentist.

Here’s what you’ll experience:

They’ll put you in the chair, and they’ll use a q-tip to apply some local anesthetic to your gums. They’ll give that a bit to kick in, then they’ll inject your gums with a tiny little hypodermic needle to really numb them. This is the only part that hurts. I find if I grip the arm of my chair and focus on that, I get through it easier.

They’ll likely do 2-3 injections around the area, depending on the tooth and where the nerves are located. But the first is the worst, because the numbing agent will start to take effect for the others. Also your body is gonna flood with endorphins because of the pain, so the injections following the first won’t be nearly as bad. Then the dentist will probably leave the room for a few minutes while they let that kick in. If the assistant is there, strike up a conversation! In my experience, the relief that the injections are done, along with the aforementioned flood of endorphins, almost feels like a mild high.

The dentist will come back and ask how you’re doing. Your lip will feel huge right now (though it isn’t, it’s just the way the nerves interpret not being able to feel what’s going on).

Here, if they haven’t given you one yet, ask for a bite block. Seriously, it makes the process so much easier.

They’ll start working by drying the area with some air. Then they’ll probably begin drilling. If you feel any pain at all, let them know. They’ll be looking for it, and may even ask you. I’ve only ever had to get an additional injection once or twice. By this point, the injection won’t really hurt because the area is so numb.

When they’ve drilled in they’ll begin using tools to clean out the inside of the tooth, clearing as much of the infected tissue as possible and removing the nerve. The work and the drilling all feel kind of weird, because the area is numb but you can still sense pressure in other parts of your mouth. You can also hear it, unless you choose the music route. I actually find this kind of fascinating.

Once they’ve cleaned the area, they’ll put in what’s called gutta percha, which they use to plug up the canal. This will feel funny, you’ll definitely feel the pressure. It won’t hurt though.

Then they’ll plug the hole with some bonding material or cement or something. This will probably be UV cured.

And then you’ll be done! Unless you’re having the whole tooth replaced with a crown. In that case, they’ll have made a mold beforehand for a temporary and permanent crown. They’ll drill away more of the tooth and put a post in to hold the crown in place. Then they’ll put the temporary crown on while they send the mold out to make a proper one.

Then you get to go home. Take a sick day if you get them, not because you need it but because it’s a good excuse and your co-workers will all feel sorry for you. 🤣

Don’t fret! You’re gonna do great. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to ask!

I’ve had one. The only pain I felt was the needle prick for the anaesthetic and then later sore jaws from having to hold them open for an hour.

I have a long involved horror story that led up to me needing a root canal that I decided not to post here because it probably isnt nteresting to anybody but me.

For the most part, a root canal is kind of minor. They numb your gums where they’re going to inject a numbing agent, then they inject a numbing agent, worst case they go a little nutso and try to inject a few places in there but the pain is there and gone in 5 seconds. If at any point you feel pain they can do a better job of numbing you. Honestly, any pain caused in the numbing process goes away pretty quickly when they successfully do it.

They poke around, there’s a little drilling, some bad smell maybe heat maybe cold a lot of spitting out little sandy chunks of debris. If the tooth is still in pretty good shape they just pack it back up and you’re good to go.

If you end up needing a crown there’s a good bit more drilling a good bit more spitting a good bit more smoke. But it’s really just the same thing prolonged.

It won’t kill you, it will annoy you and it’s marginally unpleasant, The anxiety of being there in the anxiety of not knowing what’s going on is much worse than the actual procedure. Meditate, chill, roll with it you’ll be fine.

I agree with the other comment - root canals aren’t as terrifying as years ago. I had 2 done in the past year and the edodontist was so skilled that I didn’t even feel the anesthesia injection. The entire procedure after that was painless, and there’s literally no pain to deal with afterwards because the nerve is gone. Compare that to when I was a kid in the 90s and it was excruciating.

I’ve had several, performed by good dentists. By far the worst part is administering the anesthesia. Second to that is the long boring wait in the dentist’s chair.

I had one done recently due to breaking a filling while eating a Jolly Rancher. The whole thing took maybe 2 hours.

The shot of novocaine to numb my jaw was the only pain, and even that wasn’t bad because the dentist used topical numbing before that. It was no different than getting a cavity filled.

My dentist has a cnc machine (CEREC) in the office to make the crown, so I didn’t need a temporary cap. Waiting for that to be milled was the longest part.

I had a bruise on my gums for a couple days from the shot and the retainer clamp, but it wasn’t even bad enough to stop me from eating.

Root canals used to be a lot worse than they are now, now it’s basically like getting a cavity filled. You just get a shot and don’t feel anything painful afterwards, although the drilling is loud and you can still feel pressure.

Depending on the office they may need to put in a temporary cap and wait for the actual cap to be made off site and mailed in to them, so you may have to wear the temporary for a week or so. It’s not uncommon for the temporary cap to fall out, don’t freak out if it does. You can put it back in or leave it out and just gently brush the hole normally (it won’t be painful).

If you have a strong fear of getting a shot in your mouth, you can ask the dentist to prescribe you anti-anxiety medication to take beforehand, but you’ll need someone to drive you to and from the appointment.

But honestly it should be a huge relief once it’s done, in terms of tooth pain. It will instantly be better once the numbing wears off.

It really depends on the doctor handling it. If they’re good, it’s nothing to worry about.

I heard the horror stories but from older generation. My root canal was easy.

They took xrays to view how deep the tooth went.

Froze area flattened a spot drilled in, and would stop and measure depth compared to xray and go again.

Dentist explained, too shallow and they would miss infected material, too deep and they could damage bone and nerve in jaw.

They cleaned it with a flexible metal tool, like I imagine as a tiny baby bottle brush, and a solution that smelled like bleach.

Filled it with a rod of material, and then did the regular filling type stuff on the hole.

Zero pain after, and abaolutely no after affects or pain.

I had the root canal done without an anesthesia, because I did not want a needle sticking into my gum.

It was tolerable, I did not cry or anything like. The nerve was mostly dead anyway.

The dentist took his sweet time removing the nerve piece by piece with a probe, instead of just drilling the whole tooth through. It did not matter at the end anyway, because he filled the canal afterwards. And the molar has three roots, so he repeated that two more times.

I guess it depends on your pain tolerance.

I had my first root canal recently. Honestly it was no worse than a filling, the most painful part was simply having to lie still with my mouth open for so long.

(I hate the injections, but I always hate injections, worth it to go through the procedure pain free though)

Yep, mine got infected on a trip the usa, food hygiene there isn’t what I’m used to. I was considering ripping my own teeth out, over the counter pain killers didn’t help one bit.

It was a horrible experience

I used to have really bad dentist anxiety, so my teeth got pretty bad before I finally saw someone. My dentist prescribed some kind of twilight drug before my procedures, so I could still respond to commands, but I’d have no memory of the event. I’ve had two root canals and the surgeon had me use the same drugs for both procedures. I don’t know if that’s a viable option, but I don’t think I could have done them without.

Otherwise, when you go in for your consult, be honest about your anxiety. If you don’t want to hear the details of the procedure, tell them that. They have to inform you of risks, but they don’t have to go into detail about the procedure. I brought in headphones, which helped me calm down until the drugs kicked in, though, oddly, I can remember the music I woke up to and not much else. I was so scared in the days leading up to the first procedure, but the pain relief was so great that I’m glad I did it. If nothing else, focus on that.

I had a double root canal a few months ago, no anesthesia, and literally couldn’t feel anything. The nerves on both teeth were already completely dead, there was simply no sensation at all.