A
Aviara
Junior member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2020
- Messages
- 8
- Location
- Vienna
Hi folks,
No matter how hard I tried I didn't want to believe that a painless root canal is rather the norm than just being lucky. Or perhaps I tried hard enough not to believe it. On Friday I had the first part of my first root canal done on a lower right molar. All day long on Friday before going there all kind of options came into my head how to postpone "judgement day" and what not. In fact that was the only thing that actually got me into the dentist. Just going there and breaking the bad news that I just couldn't stay. I would have compensated him of course for a slot wasted, feeling bad about it. I never thought I would have actually go out there with the appointment scheduled for the second part. How did it go? I might have spoiled a bit, but let's go back a little.
I could tell you a lot, despite my dentist history not being that long (for you know.. obvious reasons ). If you want to read this part then continue. If not you can skip to the part leading up to my first root canal at the first reply.
At the age of about four I was ruined by having a tooth extracted that was infected and caused a lot of pain. The extraction itself was pain I probably would only feel once in my life-time. I tried with all force to get the dentists hand out of my mouth. I guess that kind of ruined dentists for me. When I was about eight we went to the dentist (another one), who wanted to extract again. EVAC, EVAC, EVAC.....! With an enormous amount of convincing from my parents and the dentist I actually stayed, got the shot which was pretty much painless (apart from a little warmth I felt). So shots are something I never fear at the dentist. The extraction itself was just as painless. A little trust gained there. At some point I asked my parents, why this one was pain-free and when I was four it was pure horror? She said, the infection pretty much made the LA useless.
I did gain trust with dentists, but the combination of "infection" and "painful" treatments never really go away. In other words "tooth-ache" would be the point to avoid the denist at all cost, rather than seeing one.
During my childhood I had fillings here and never. Although I would always request a shot before they start drilling and that was fine. Never really feared the drill much. Once I even got drilled without LA, I didn't even know until after the treatment .
So what happened? Well as I said I never could get away of the "infection" = "severe pain during treatment". I mean if the tooth hurts now without messing around with it, who knows what it's like when they start using those scary instruments on it. Especially when they start to go inside of it.
At the age of 17 I starting to feel enormous pain (kind of like a quick but extreme strike on it) when I'd chew on it. But since it was just when I bit on it, I just decided to chew on my left side. Some nights it would hurt without eating. It also looked a bit broken. My mother convinced me I had to see the doc. This time I got real nervous again, because it was a tooth that was in pain (albeit not all the time and mostly just bearable). She gave me a shot and started drilling and I felt pain. She stopped and gave me another and she was able to finish pain-free. So it was a mixed bag after that. So it was possible to have a pain-less treatment on a tooth that has symptoms. But it wasn't that easy to get numb enough to get there. She even said afterwards (I don't know what I would have done when she said that beforehand) she was worried it might not have been possible to it painless.
After that I haven't been to the dentist for 18(!!) years. Despite those rather successful experiences I still held belief that not all treatments can be painless no matter what. One of them being root canal. I have only ever heard the horror stories about them. But I always though you had to be unlucky and be of older age of ever needing one so I didn't care. During the years I had some tooth-ache here and there. Some of them being quite uncomfortable, but never bad enough for me to get to the dentist. I then always told myself I will go when it's gone. All of them went away after no more than 2-3 weeks. So I kept avoiding the dentist comfortably. Although I was always urged by my family to see one. My mother then told me of a very good dentist where my brother got a painless root canal. I didn't really care much. Needless to say that still didn't convince me. My fear of going there, especially when in pain was just too great. So yes eighteen years pass without being at the dentist for treatment. Just once for a professional cleaning.
No matter how hard I tried I didn't want to believe that a painless root canal is rather the norm than just being lucky. Or perhaps I tried hard enough not to believe it. On Friday I had the first part of my first root canal done on a lower right molar. All day long on Friday before going there all kind of options came into my head how to postpone "judgement day" and what not. In fact that was the only thing that actually got me into the dentist. Just going there and breaking the bad news that I just couldn't stay. I would have compensated him of course for a slot wasted, feeling bad about it. I never thought I would have actually go out there with the appointment scheduled for the second part. How did it go? I might have spoiled a bit, but let's go back a little.
I could tell you a lot, despite my dentist history not being that long (for you know.. obvious reasons ). If you want to read this part then continue. If not you can skip to the part leading up to my first root canal at the first reply.
At the age of about four I was ruined by having a tooth extracted that was infected and caused a lot of pain. The extraction itself was pain I probably would only feel once in my life-time. I tried with all force to get the dentists hand out of my mouth. I guess that kind of ruined dentists for me. When I was about eight we went to the dentist (another one), who wanted to extract again. EVAC, EVAC, EVAC.....! With an enormous amount of convincing from my parents and the dentist I actually stayed, got the shot which was pretty much painless (apart from a little warmth I felt). So shots are something I never fear at the dentist. The extraction itself was just as painless. A little trust gained there. At some point I asked my parents, why this one was pain-free and when I was four it was pure horror? She said, the infection pretty much made the LA useless.
I did gain trust with dentists, but the combination of "infection" and "painful" treatments never really go away. In other words "tooth-ache" would be the point to avoid the denist at all cost, rather than seeing one.
During my childhood I had fillings here and never. Although I would always request a shot before they start drilling and that was fine. Never really feared the drill much. Once I even got drilled without LA, I didn't even know until after the treatment .
So what happened? Well as I said I never could get away of the "infection" = "severe pain during treatment". I mean if the tooth hurts now without messing around with it, who knows what it's like when they start using those scary instruments on it. Especially when they start to go inside of it.
At the age of 17 I starting to feel enormous pain (kind of like a quick but extreme strike on it) when I'd chew on it. But since it was just when I bit on it, I just decided to chew on my left side. Some nights it would hurt without eating. It also looked a bit broken. My mother convinced me I had to see the doc. This time I got real nervous again, because it was a tooth that was in pain (albeit not all the time and mostly just bearable). She gave me a shot and started drilling and I felt pain. She stopped and gave me another and she was able to finish pain-free. So it was a mixed bag after that. So it was possible to have a pain-less treatment on a tooth that has symptoms. But it wasn't that easy to get numb enough to get there. She even said afterwards (I don't know what I would have done when she said that beforehand) she was worried it might not have been possible to it painless.
After that I haven't been to the dentist for 18(!!) years. Despite those rather successful experiences I still held belief that not all treatments can be painless no matter what. One of them being root canal. I have only ever heard the horror stories about them. But I always though you had to be unlucky and be of older age of ever needing one so I didn't care. During the years I had some tooth-ache here and there. Some of them being quite uncomfortable, but never bad enough for me to get to the dentist. I then always told myself I will go when it's gone. All of them went away after no more than 2-3 weeks. So I kept avoiding the dentist comfortably. Although I was always urged by my family to see one. My mother then told me of a very good dentist where my brother got a painless root canal. I didn't really care much. Needless to say that still didn't convince me. My fear of going there, especially when in pain was just too great. So yes eighteen years pass without being at the dentist for treatment. Just once for a professional cleaning.