Terrified of getting root canals, what’s it like?

[Xenon]

Hello everyone, I have to get 3 root canals, two on my bottom leftmost molar and premolar (18,19) and a top tooth (13). I am genuinely terrified of getting a root canal. I’ve always been hurt by the dentists I go to, mainly because of how fast my body goes through numbing agents. I feel like I will be in excruciating pain, but have heard endo’s get you so numb you can’t feel a single thing happening. Am I overrreacting? It fills me with a lot of anxiety, and the fact that I have AT MINIMUM 10 fillings to do in other teeth doesn’t help me feel any better. Especially when fillings in the past have been painful.

Thanks for any replies in advance.

 

[Neos]

I've only had 1 root canal done in a premolar and it wasn't much of a problem, just felt like a slightly longer filling.
They used a rubber dam which made me panic a little at first as I didn't think I would be able to breathe properly but I was ok thankfully.
Didn't feel any pain, but my premolar was dead so no nerve to feel pain and the numbing stopped any pain too.

 

[kitkat]

Hi!
I have had issues with getting numb/staying numb in the past with fillings too and my root canal experience with an endodontist was completely different. I have never been so numb in my life and it lasted for hours even after the procedure ended so they must be using a different cocktail of drugs or a different technique (or both). I am generally very anxious during procedures because I feel like I am on the edge of feeling something at any time (and have and had to stop procedures) but with the root canal I was so profoundly numb that I really didn’t care what was going on in my mouth. My endo gave me some VR glasses that allowed me to watch a movie of my choice and while it was a long appointment, I actually caught myself trying to not laugh at what was going on in the movie as to not disturb the procedure which is not like me at all (I am more of the sweaty, white knuckle type! Lol). Let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

[Xenon]

@kitkat Thanks for this reply! It does make me feel slightly better. I’m not sure I have questions now, but i’m sure i’ll reply back in the days coming before my appointment with any questions I might have.

Thanks!

 

[tomato]

I have limited experience and maybe you have already gone through yours. I'll still leave this comment, maybe it helps.
My take away from going through the procedure: Being open with the medical team really helps.
A new dentist did my root canal treatment and I talked to him about my worries. He assured me that he won't continue working if I was in pain and could give me more numbing agent at any point. He also involved me in his decisions. On the second appointment, we tried topical numbing gel before the actual numbing agent. But I came to the conclusion that I don't like the feeling of the topical gel and we agreed to not use it for the next appointments. For the last appointment, he said that numbing would not be necessary. I still requested some numbing just to ease my mind and he put in some on surface level. It was alright, I still felt too much for my liking. I told him afterwards that I would prefer a full numbing next time we do anything like this and he agreed.
There are also different numbing agents available. So if your body went through it fast the last time, maybe talk to your medical team about trying a different kind for the next time.