RCT tomorrow - frightened

[Nickymvs]

hi all,
follow up. On Monday I went to the dentist with pain in the back upper right molar and, after a tapping test and using cold gel test (which I couldn't feel) he told me the nerve is probably dead. He did an xray and said there is no crack in the filling and explained how the pain is caused by inflammation and possible early infection. He gave me antibiotics but couldn't fit me in for RCT until March 25th but advised me to call every day.
Today I got a call saying tomorrow is my first appointment of two. He said it will be one hour each. He said the nerve is almost certainly dead otherwise I would have felt the cold gel (I did on the adjacent tooth). He said essentially it's like a deep filling but just longer in the chair. He has known me since I was 16 (Im 43) and he said he thinks I can sit in the chair for the hour tomorrow and the hour for the second part in 1-2 weeks. The receptionist is also one of the most experienced nurses who has known me for the same amount of time and she told me she will be there tomorrow and I can hold her hand and my dentist will not do a thing if I can feel it and all I need to do is communicate that I can feel something if I can. She said she has had RCTs herself with him and he was great - I've also had my old boss message me as we go to the same dentist and she said he was great with her too.

I'm a former phobic of the dentists and honestly, the idea of RCT is one of my all time worst fears and has driven my phobia for so long. Now it's here. My husband reminded me that I first noticed pain a week ago and the weekend is when it was bad, yet tomorrow I'm getting it done and the fact I'm walking towards this rather than running away for six months to a year and hoping it will go away shows how far I've come. Even so - my legs are shaking, I've been crying and I'm so scared that either I will feel it tomorrow or I will be in pain afterwards. There is no abscess and the antibiotics are day 2 so far and have taken the throbbing pain right down - the only time I am aware now is when I bite the teeth together yet before that it was throbbing even when it wasn't being bitten on and I was living on nurofen for the previous four days before I started the antibiotics.

I'm trying to think this time tomorrow I will be half way through my treatment and I will have done the scariest bit - but I can't help but thinking I just can't do it, I can't get through the door, I can't do the injections - all of which my dentist said, I've done it before. I've had deep fillings, IPR and invisalign so he said there is no reason I won't be able to do this.

Help

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Nickymvs,

Anxiety and fear of something we haven't done before and especially in the dental chair is so normal. What strikes me is your courage to go through what you have, face it already up to this point , even making the appt. Your dentist and team sound lovely and supportive, and having someone who knows you so well, through a new process and even others who have been to him and had good experiences is a huge positive. From what I'm hearing about them, sounds like he would respect your stopsign if you got too nervous or panicked or felt something and stop and make sure you were ok. Also that you weren't feeling anything and you have enough anesthetic.

These are so important. Basically root canals once you get in the chair and anesthetic in, are super boring I nearly fell asleep on my last one, and reading reviews on endodontists in the area, Alot of people say the same thing, they fell asleep. I think I babied the area for a day and was careful eating then the next day was back to normal.