Root canal

[AnnieBo]

Hello. I’m starting root canal treatment in September and I’m absolutely terrified. I’d had a filling over where some tooth had broken in 2010 (I’d had a sweet addiction + bulimia) and it had developed a lot of black underneath in the last couple of years. I’m autistic and I have a high pain threshold but when I feel pain it’s very magnified for me. The first dentist was really brusque, and I found another I like better. But when I had that filling removed and the tooth cleaned out a couple of weeks ago; the pain was indescribable. He was asking me how many times it kept me awake at night, the answer was it didn’t! I just had pain when trying to chew. But the cleaning absolutely floored me. I was shaking and crying out with it. He had given me a numbing injection and a temporary filling was put in. The pain did happen when drilling and lasted until the night. Maybe it wasn’t enough injection? He did tell me to take nurofen for the swelling for the 2.5 days which helped after. The tooth is feeling much better now, I can eat on it! I know I need this procedure to save my tooth, keep my jaw alignment. I need to do it this year while I have dental insurance. What can I do to help me get through an hour or fear and pain? Can I get medication to take before from my GP? I do better when understanding something and seeing how something works before. Is there any good video I can watch? Does it always take the hour each time, he said I will need three sessions probably; which seems so so long. Thank you so much for any information and support.