Root Canal that went well

[Julie]

Dear everyone,
Well, the root canal that I was dreading on Saturday went far better than I ever hoped it would
I took 5mg Valium the night before and had a suprisingly good nights sleep. My very best friend drove me in the morning and although I had the valium with me, I opted not take any so not to jeperdise the IV and keep my mind on writing down a note for my dentist, Chris, incase I was in a bit of a state when I got there, he had an idea of how I was feeling.
When we arrived, the treatment nurse sat us down and I told her about my note. She had some rescue remedy and gave me three good shots under my tongue. I've had this before and I must admit it is quite good. I'm not sure if it is the taste that distracts you from the anxiety - it has a warming strong taste of alcohol although it isnt laced with it or the genuine affects of the ingredients that do the trick but it did take the edge away.
Chris came out to greet me and when we went in his room I managed to talk through my notes. One thing I had asked for was if the IV sedation could be made ready to use if I felt I needed it during the treatment. He said that was no trouble and if I needed it, just to ask. I also told him that I often fear feeling pain even when numbed and I often mistake the work he is doing as pain inducing. He assured me he would make sure that the area was numb at all times and if I needed him to stop to raise my hand. I also asked if he could explain what I should expect to feel as he was working such as any pulling or pushing so nothing would come as a shock or suprise.
The numbing went ok - for me this part is a real problem. Chris said the one on the inside edge would sting a bit but to go with it and relax as it will take effect better. Its not an easy thing to do but I thought it would be advice best not to ignore. I dug deep and as he counted the five seconds through it I sort of meditated into the counting. An interesting thing he said and may be worth remembering is that the aneastetic can make your heart beat faster for the first couple of minutes. I did'nt realise that! As i expected it, it did'nt make me anxious when it did. It slowed a bit after a couple of minutes.
The initial drilling took no more than two or three minutes which was a great relief. The finer cleaning of the roots was with a much quieter handpiece as he explained it would be. It seemed to be more of a delicate procedure than I expected it to be with Chris paying a lot of attention to the cleaning of the roots and disinfecting going on. The pushing and pulling bit took about five minutes on each root but Chris gave me notice of each one. Although not the most pleasant of things to have done, he was a lot more gentle than the dentist who gave me my fear. He took xrays before the filling, I presume to check all was where it should be and all the while letting me know what to expect and for how long. There was a bit of sensitivity when he put the resin in but quickly reasured me this was ok and there would be no pain. His treatment nurse was very reasuring and would gently stroke the top of my hand (they've learnt the hard way, not to let me hold their hands as I can squeeze too hard!) and telling me how well I was doing.
It took about half an hour- forty mins in all and with Chris chatting away it felt like less. He showed me the xray of how it looked and showed me the tube things that fill the roots now. I felt so well informed throughout and to see what had just been done made me feel I was much more a part of things.
I felt so proud of myself and when I walked out to meet my friend she could not believe how well I had done. I was on a high for the rest of the day and feel I have put the root canal demon to rest.
I hope this will go some way to help anyone facing a root canal in the future.
We're all trying to banish our dental demons, I hope me writing about my experience helps you too.

Julie
xx

 

[gumgirl]

Fantastic news, Julie and a huge well done to you
You've done yourself proud and to go through it without IV sedation is heroic!! Glad you're feeling pleased with yourself too
Sounds like you've located an excellent dental team - you've given such a great description of your treatment and what it felt like.

 

[Guest]

   

thanks for the information.it helped me a lot.
can u please tell me the address of  this dentist . as i m not comfortable with my current one.

 & any other recomendations would be appreciated.
 thanks..!!

 

[Julie]

ah good, i'm so pleased my write up was a help. I wanted to be careful with my descriptions so not to frighten anyone.

I'm still on a high I must admit and must remember to take that with me for anything similar in the future


Julie
xx

 

[Robert101]

Hi Julie,

Glad to hear the procedure went so well for you.  

Like me, you apparently had a stellar dental team that went the extra mile.  

Cheers  

Robert101