# I just survived an emergency root canal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197 "2012-06-15T02:28:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/1 "2012-06-15T02:28:17Z")
Five lifetime nightmares came true at once this afternoon when I had to have an emergency root canal. However, the amazing part was, compared to the pain I was in, the root canal was not that bad. I had three days of excruciating pain leading up to the realization of what my problem was. I like to think I have a high pain tolerance having survived a ruptured appendix and peritonitis, but this was 1 million times worse. Just thought I would share this lovely experience with everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/2 "2012-06-15T02:48:45Z")
Im not listening!! I have an ache where I had a root canal. It comes and goes, and I’m trying to put off the moment when the dentist has to drill through the crown to figure out what’s going on. I know one day it will hit me hard, and dental pain is the worst! I couldn’t watch Marathon Man for that reason although I like the actors in it. My other four root canals don’t cause me a minute’s problem, however, so I am happy. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/3 "2012-06-15T04:15:45Z")
When I went to my dentist with two shattered molars, which both required root canals, he peered at them for a moment, then sat back and looked at me and asked very soberly, “Why aren’t you screaming? I can _see_ exposed nerve tissue.” Then he examined them some more, and in the course of doing so, _prodded_ said exposed tissue with something sharp, metallic, and cold. At that point, I had an answer for why I wasn’t screaming: my diaphragm–along with every other muscle from my ears to my toes–was locked up behind a wall of silver-white pain. He was very apologetic, and to his credit, I didn’t feel the slightest twinge of pain beyond the initial needle sticks during the subsequent double root canal, and only mild soreness afterward. The worst that I can say of the procedure itself is that my jaw got very tired from being held open for hours. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/4 "2012-06-15T04:20:59Z")
My guy does absolutely painless root canals. I’ve had…4 of them, I think. Every one was less painful than sitting through a faculty meeting. He’s also a cut-up. “Want to see what the inside of your molar looks like?” “No!” Want to see what the nerve I just took out looks like?" “N…sure.” Wiggly thing. “Do you know your blood pressure is really high?” “Ya think?” ---
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/5 "2012-06-15T04:26:05Z")
I actually went to an endodontist because this was a molar and they were very kind to my intense pain and dental-anxiety. However when they started describing what they were going to do, I was like, please stop. The only other thing they said that was disturbing was “Wow, that’s way more pus than we normally see.” For more gory detail, because my tooth is so infected they left it open with only cotton in it so it can drain for the next three weeks. Then I have to go back to complete the root canal. You are welcome for that detail. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/6 "2012-06-15T04:53:16Z")
My entire mouth is in such bad shape that I just have teeth pulled rather than root canals. And no one’s experience of root canals has convinced me I made any wrong choices on that matter. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-survived-an-emergency-root-canal/625197/7 "2012-06-15T05:41:25Z")
I had a root canal in my early 30’s (1970’s), and it was the most horrible pain I’ve ever experienced. I had no further dental problems until thirty years later, 2004, when I found myself facing THREE root canals in the space of three months. All three procedures were absolutely painless-- after the intial injections of anesthetic (a little uncomfortable but hardly painful), I felt no discomfort. Literally zero pain. I’ve since been told that boomers are often pleasantly surprised by the advances dentistry has made since the 1950’s.