I'm having a root canal Monday.

[CTyankee]

I have a great dentist who will make me numb with a shot of novocain in my lower left gums. It'll take a bit of time but it saves the tooth, which is very worth it.

I'll be glad when I can chew food on that side and most happy that I can drink cold liquids without feeling acute pain.

Wish me luck!

[dchill]

1. Best of luck from a fellow former, uh, canalist!

[CTyankee]

3. Thanks.

I plan on having myself a wee drop of wine when I get back...

[Ohiogal]

2. Good luck CTyankee!

My sister had a root canal done about a year ago and she said it wasn't bad at all!

What's the first cold liquid and/or food you will look most forward to enjoying?

[CTyankee]

4. A little bit of white wine...

[RKP5637]

5. Yep, with a good dentist it's not bad at all. Wishing you luck!

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. Still polls better than congress

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Arrange with your dentist for a signal to ask for more novocaine, just in case.

Individual responses to anaesthetics vary. I metabolize novocaine-like drugs very fast, so I need as many as four shots for a session. (On the plus side, I suffer very little post-op dental pain. Had two wisdom teeth extracted and I only took the minimum dosage of painkiller pills for one day.)

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. There was the old line about the patient grabbing the dentist by the hummana hummunas

and when asked why he was doing that, he said "You told me to tell you if I feel pain. When I squeeze, you'll know."

[CTyankee]

10. Good idea. Will do!

[yonder]

9. I've had one, lower left also.

Didn't feel a thing, except a little soreness later. I understand the lower jaw goes better than the upper. Good Luck.

[BlueSpot]

11. Your first?

I've had a number. They're not nearly as bad as people make them out to be. Probably lore from old school dentistry or something. You'll be fine. Just have a straw on hand for that wine or you'll spill it all over yourself if you try to drink it from the glass while still numb.

[csziggy]

12. Had one about a month ago

My dentist now sends patients to an endodontist rather than doing root canals himself. Good thing - it was not the tooth he thought was bad, it was the one next to it!

After a couple of years of being sensitive to cold on that side, it's great to be able to drink cold stuff without keeping it on one side of my mouth. I still can't chew cold things there yet though. The tooth above the one that had the root canal had to be pulled six months ago. Next week they uncover the implant to get it ready for the new crown.

After that is done, I get to have the bridge on the other side cut, replace the cracked part of it with a crown and put an implant in the middle. All my teeth are coming apart so I will be well acquainted with implants for a lot of years.

[NNadir]

13. I've had so many of these, I've lost count. These days it's pretty painless.

When I first started getting them, they were more problematic, but now...

Don't worry.

Good luck.

[Laffy Kat]

14. Best thing about root canals:

N 2 O.

[Hekate]

15. I've lost count of my root canals, but it helps that my guy shows videos....

Gaaaah.

First time my current dentist looked at my x-rays he murmured that I had had "extensive dental work". Yes, that is certainly true. And I am very grateful I can afford same. Both my parents and my grandparents had, shall we say, extensive bridges and full plates.

He sends me to an endodontist -- my roots have some odd curvature to them. The endodontist is the guy with the videos.

Best of luck, CT.