Earlier today I had a root canal and had such a good experience that my mouth is already feeling better than it has at any point over the past year since I cracked my tooth.
I’ve often heard that root canals are a painful experience and something to be feared. It’s easy to see why.
For starters, few things give people more anxiety than going to the dentist to have some major work done. The words alone “Root Canal,” inspire fear. Just the name of the dang procedure is scary. They might as well have named it “TOOTH DRILLER.”
But since my experience went so well, I’d like to share some tips in case you ever have to go through a similar procedure.
To tell this right, let’s go back to beginning.
About a year ago I went to the movies to watch “Inside Out” and indulged on a box of SweeTarts. The candy is advertised as “Mini Chewy,” which would lead one to believe it’s soft. To the contrary, there were a few pieces that were hard, and one cracked my tooth. I didn’t immediately know I had cracked my tooth; I was feeling pain, but it wasn’t until a trip to the dentist that I was informed of the crack. (side note: don’t eat candy. ever. it will break your teeth and cost you thousands of dollars)
The pain and problems with my cracked tooth continued to get worse, so my dentist recommended a crown, noting that there was a possibility in the future that I might need a root canal. Well, I can tell you that the process of getting a crown was nothing short of TRAUMATIC. I mean seriously, for the next month I was having flashbacks to getting my tooth drilled down to half its size while sitting in that chair. The experience was miserable. The next month was equally bad. It took a LONG time to suppress those horrible memories.
Obviously I had problems and pain after getting the crown put in initially, and that continued for the next several months. Finally this week the pain in my mouth got so bad that I couldn’t sleep for two straight nights, leading me to call my dentist. When I went in to see him, he told me that if a patient says tooth pain is keeping them at night, it instantly means “root canal.” So he referred me to an endodontist, which specialize in root canals.
Since things went so wrong with the crown, that actually helped me prepare for the root canal. And here’s the plan I’m sharing to help you survive a root canal.
1) Make sure you understand how the procedure works. A big part of anxiety is the fear of the unknown and the fear of what can go wrong. If you are anxious about the root canal, knowing what is coming will help put you at ease.
Ask your doctor to show you a video before you have the procedure done. Have the doctor explain to you the procedure step-by-step. Knowing how the procedure is supposed to go will help you follow the steps as it’s happening to you, thereby reducing your anxiety.
2) Have a signal to show you are in pain. Again, probably one of your biggest fears is being strapped in a chair, in pain, completely helpless. That’s not a good feeling. You and your dentist should come up with a way to signal if you are in too much pain at any point. My dentist told me to raise my hand.
This is important for a few reasons.
On the mental side, it will help take away that fear of being powerless in the chair while having work done to you. In a practical sense, if you are literally in pain, this will help signal it to your dentist so they can immediately make adjustments.
Having a dentist who suggests a signal for when you’re in pain says that they are not too arrogant to believe they they won’t put you in pain. It also tells you they care about making you comfortable. Both are equally important.
3) Distract yourself during the drilling. Hopefully the Novocaine and anesthetics are in full effect so you’re not feeling anything. But you also don’t want to force the issue by focusing on what’s happening in your mouth. The best way to do that is to think about other things.
I suggest visualizing some of the fun and great feelings in your life.
If you’re a musician, visualize yourself playing your favorite song and just shredding on your instrument. If you like surfing, think about riding perfect waves. If you like sports, replay the experience of connecting on a perfect touchdown pass or knocking a homer out of the park. Think about things that bring you happiness and pleasure.
Replay sexual encounters in your mind. Think about great sexual experiences. All of a sudden that drilling will have a whole new (and fun!) meaning. Just be careful about pitching a tent in the dentist’s chair. (that could get awkward)
4) Do not move your tongue over to feel what is happening. Imagine waking up halfway through a surgery and seeing what they’re doing to your body. Your skin is open, bones and ligaments sticking out. You’d freak out, right? You don’t want to see that crap. You just want to skip to the ending when you’re all sewn up.
Same thing with having dental work done. You don’t want to see or feel what is going on until it’s done.
YOU JUST DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON.
Your tongue is familiar with your mouth and knows where everything is and what it’s supposed to feel like. The worst thing you can do is move your tongue over at some point to feel what is going on and the tongue feels a hole in the tooth or missing parts of a tooth. The tactile sensation may psychologically freak you out. I made this mistake during my crown procedure and it took me months to get over it.
Resist the urge to use your tongue to feel what is happening. Think of it as avoiding the moment where you wake up mid-surgery and freak out. Resist the tongue urge!
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I know root canals can be a terrifying proposition. But by reading this and following these guidelines, along with having a good endodontist, you should be able to turn a potentially uncomfortable experience into a painless procedure.
Now bring on the root canal!
