# Root canal treatment - with no anaesthetic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106 "2009-09-30T14:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/21 "2009-10-01T15:18:13Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > 20 years ago root canals were done more by hand. Now dentists use special drills so they go much faster. They still use some hand files but only for a small part of the work. The words “hand files” almost made me faint reading your post. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/22 "2009-10-01T15:50:04Z")
I had one done 5 months ago…with novocaine however the drill broke off and is now embedded in my tooth. To this day the area is still sensitive according to my dentist it can take up to 2yrs for that sensitivity to go away ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/23 "2009-10-01T16:40:59Z")
The video I posted is just highlights, it’s only 10 minutes. Most of the shots are not closeups of the tooth. Future - You have a drill bit stuck in a tooth? And they can’t get it out? Maybe they feel getting it out would cause more damage than leaving it in. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/24 "2009-10-02T02:46:07Z")
I had a root canal on a dead tooth with no anesthetic in the mid-1970s with not a lot of pain. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/25 "2009-10-02T04:49:57Z")
I had two root canals with no anesthetic of any kind. However, my nerves were dead and, as others have pointed out, that means pretty much no pain. Before I actually got around to having my root canals, though, I was in MORTAL FUCKING AGONY for damn near 15 months. My cavities ate all the way through my teeth. They both ended up totally hollow and both broke. That was horrible, horrible pain. So painful that I couldn’t even sleep sometimes. OUCH. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/26 "2009-10-02T05:04:25Z")
I’m the opposite end of the spectrum; since I’m hard to freeze, I’ve finally started getting sedation dentistry. I was asleep for my root canal (and still remember having one severe, sharp pain which caused me to try to grab the dentist’s hand). I suspect I have had some work done with minimal freezing, since I had quite a lot of work done before I learned that fillings weren’t supposed to hurt. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/27 "2009-10-02T07:37:45Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > I have just had root canal treatment - with no anaesthetic, and I didn’t feel anything apart from some discomfort. This means that > > 1. There is actually no pain connected with the treatment, and all the stories you hear are myths. > > 2. I have a very, very good dentist. > > 3. I am incredibly brave, and, basically a super hero. > > I favour the third option, but suspect it may be one of the others. > > Actually, I should add, in the interests of honesty, that the pain I felt before the treatment was excrutiating. 1. You are a Buddhist and learned to meditate yourself into a higher plane, rising above the pain. In short, you learned to transcend dental medication. _::ducks & runs::_ ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/28 "2009-10-02T08:31:31Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > 1. You are a Buddhist and learned to meditate yourself into a higher plane, rising above the pain. In short, you learned to transcend dental medication. > > _::ducks & runs::_ Win. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/29 "2009-10-02T09:00:45Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > 1. You are a Buddhist and learned to meditate yourself into a higher plane, rising above the pain. In short, you learned to transcend dental medication. > > _::ducks & runs::_ You the man. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/30 "2009-10-02T18:37:54Z")
If your tooth has a root canal and then you have a cavity later you might be able to get the cavity filled with no lidocaine. Since the tooth has no nerve drilling on it won’t cause pain. That was the case for me - the dentist told me she wasn’t going to numb me because there would be no pain and she was right. But she also told me that if I did feel pain she would numb me but I did not need it. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/31 "2009-10-02T19:07:16Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > I have just had root canal treatment - with no anaesthetic, and I didn’t feel anything apart from some discomfort. This means that > > 1. There is actually no pain connected with the treatment, and all the stories you hear are myths. > > 2. I have a very, very good dentist. > > 3. I am incredibly brave, and, basically a super hero. > > I favour the third option, but suspect it may be one of the others. > > Actually, I should add, in the interests of honesty, that the pain I felt before the treatment was excrutiating. My mom had several with no anesthesia, but she did very specifically use self-hypnosis techniques. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/32 "2009-10-02T21:16:16Z")
I’ve had nine root canals and never had any pain from the procedure, but LORD did it hurt before then. I’ve heard of laser drills or something like that, that don’t use any numbing. My problem with the novocaine is I can’t have it on more than one quarter of my mouth at a time (lower left or upper right for example) otherwise I panic, it feels like my throat and mouth are closing up. Yeah I know they aren’t but it feels that way. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106/33 "2009-10-03T02:31:38Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m the opposite end of the spectrum; since I’m hard to freeze, I’ve finally started getting sedation dentistry. I was asleep for my root canal (and still remember having one severe, sharp pain which caused me to try to grab the dentist’s hand). I suspect I have had some work done with minimal freezing, since I had quite a lot of work done before I learned that fillings weren’t supposed to hurt. This is my problem too. I’m very hard to numb and have had some pretty wretched experiences, which has caused me to develop pretty severe phobia. Though after the first couple of full-blown sedation episodes with the newer dentist, the anxiety has dropped enough (that made the pain more severe, for sure) that I’ve been able to get 'em done with “just” nitrous + novocaine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/root-canal-treatment-with-no-anaesthetic/512106.md?page=1)