The DENTIST is not so painful anymore

[Conversationist]

When I was a kid, going to the dentist was hell. Even though I was given novocaine, the drill would hit a nerve and the pain would be incredible. I can still feel the pain in my mind 30 years later.

Recently I have had some work done on my teeth. While sitting in the dentists chair can be uncomfortable I have not experienced the pain from the drill I remember as a kid.

Am I just lucky or have new modern drills eliminated the pain?

 

[skiwee1]

I think dentistry has changed for the better. I used to hate getting any work done but always had to due to still having many baby teeth. I had never had the dreaded root canal until one day my dentist said I needed 2 at once. Wow! I was terrified. He sent me to a dentist that specializes in root canals, can't think of the name, and it was nothing like what I thought it would be. I had to go in 3 sessions in one week. The sessions were 2-3 hours long each time. I had no pain during the entire time. He was so skilled at giving needles, I had 4-6 each time, that I didn't feel a thing. I got to sit there watching a TV built into the ceiling and headphones on while he worked on my teeth. I had never been to a dentist with TVs in the ceiling but it was great! I got to pick movies from his vast library of tapes and watched an entire movie each session. I had no pain afterward either. Now if I were told I needed a root canal I wouldn't flinch. I think I'd prefer them to deep cleaning which really hurt!

 

[minkydog]

I believe dentistry has changed dramatically over the years. Gone are the days of "toughing it out." I had some traumatic experiences with a dentist in my childhood, including having a tooth filled without any Novacaine(he asked if I wanted a shot in my mouth--what 8yo wants that? )

Now at the age of 49 I am so fearful of dentistry that I have panic attacks whne I have to go. fortunately, I have a dentist who knows me well and understands, and works with me to make me comfortable enough to tolerate it( I use nitrous, headphones, a blanket, and sometimes Xanax). I still get panicky, but his staff knows how to handle me and nobody treats me like I'm being silly. As a result, I am able to keep my mouth healthy, have cleanings twice a year and take care of problems while they are small.

 

[tar heel]

The skill level of dentists varies, however. The dentist I go to now is probably #2 in skill of the four I've seen. The best one could do absolutely anything without it hurting. I had a root canal with him with no novacaine. He said that a root canal should not hurt if done properly because a dentist is trained to know where all the nerves are and shouldn't be hitting any of them during that procedure. He assured me that he would stop and give me anesthesia if I said he was hurting me. It didn't hurt a bit, though. I had a root canal with my current dentist a few months ago and would have probably died without novacaine. The second root canal also took about 1/3 of the amount of time of the first one b/c he wasn't being careful not to hit where it wasn't necessary. The end result was the same -- tooth saved -- but the really skillful dentist made it a lot more pleasant.

That dentist also gave shots of novacaine that you couldn't feel (top) or could barely feel (bottom).

The dentist I had who was such a genius was a private practice dentist in a college town who was an adjunct faculty member at the university.