this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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Root canals used to be a lot worse than they are now, now it’s basically like getting a cavity filled. You just get a shot and don’t feel anything painful afterwards, although the drilling is loud and you can still feel pressure.
Depending on the office they may need to put in a temporary cap and wait for the actual cap to be made off site and mailed in to them, so you may have to wear the temporary for a week or so. It’s not uncommon for the temporary cap to fall out, don’t freak out if it does. You can put it back in or leave it out and just gently brush the hole normally (it won’t be painful).
If you have a strong fear of getting a shot in your mouth, you can ask the dentist to prescribe you anti-anxiety medication to take beforehand, but you’ll need someone to drive you to and from the appointment.
But honestly it should be a huge relief once it’s done, in terms of tooth pain. It will instantly be better once the numbing wears off.
I was told I won’t need a cap as the tooth is my front tooth. One of my big concerns is how my tooth will feel when I bite things since they extract the nerves from the tooth.
I have an implant right next to my front tooth and that was such a traumatic experience for me when I got it as a teen. I’m afraid my tooth will feel like the fake one.
The front tooth is actually the easiest to do a root canal on, so it shouldn’t be bad at all. They won’t be changing your tooth much if you don’t need a cap, just cleaning out the infection and the nerve. So you shouldn’t feel any change in how it sits in your mouth or pressure against other teeth or anything like that.
I’ve had a root canal on a front tooth and the only time I can tell that it’s any different from my other front tooth is if I accidentally bump it with something, it doesn’t hurt the same way as a tooth with a nerve does. It still hurts, just from the gums rather than the tooth if that makes sense.
Don’t feel like you can’t tell your dentist you’ve had bad experiences before and are afraid, it is SUPER common and dealing with it head on is going to be a lot better than being unable to get it done during the appointment due to an anxiety attack. If you don’t feel it’s quite that bad for you then you can still ask for nitrous oxide to help you relax.
That’s honestly a relief for me to read 🥲 Your description makes sense to me and that’s a relief as well haha. My implant tooth feels very weird to me compared to all my other teeth.
I’m lucky to have a very empathetic dentist. I told her I was beyond nervous but she could see it cause my hands were shakey and I kept tearing up haha. Felt kind of embarrassing but I know she’s seen worse.
Don’t feel embarrassed at all, it’s a totally normal fear and like you said she’s definitely seen worse. You got this 💪