Root canal without anesthesia why?

Question

I went to this dentist in Italy while on vacation. he started a root canal and after taking care of the roots she said that at my second appointment no anesthesia was necessary because the roots were no longer there and so there should be no pain. She also said that if there was pain it was necessary for her. So she starts putting these paper cones up my gum and it literally felt like electric shocks. I asked for anesthesia and she said she was almost done but she wasn't and I was really upset from the pain. Now I am terrified of rootcanals, was this really necessary?

Answer 1

Well, sometimes they cant put you in anesthesia because they need to know if something hurts when it shouldn't be etc. Just like when you get a tongue tied tongue snipped you cant be numbed or anything. Sometimes you just have to deal with it, I do believe they cant deny you anesthesia if you ask for it. Next time I would talk about it in advance and ask for it anyways, or you can always find your own pain medicine to ease the pain. I don't really recommend that because it could affect the procedure.

Answer 2

Never been to Italy, so not sure how it's done there...I've had a few myself in the good old USA, and have always had anesthesia....

Answer 3

Your Italian dentist removed the nerve during your first appointment.  So technically the tooth would now be dead.  You could drill on it during a second appointment and it shouldn't hurt you.  However, when putting the paper points down the canal, the dentist either pushed irrigating solution out the tip of your tooth or touched still feeling tissue at the tip of your tooth.  Because no anaesthetic had been placed, you would feel this.  You should have also felt something when the dentist filled the root canal with gutta percha.

To finish the root canal painlessly, the dentist should have placed anaesthetic during your second visit even after the nerve had been removed from the tooth during the first visit.  And this is because the tissue at or just beyond your root tip still had feeling.

Don't be afraid of root canals.  I have many patients who sleep through root canals.  They can and should be painless...if done correctly.

Answer 4

I have had a root canal myself. The insertion of the paper cones is done without anesthesia even in the USA. It irritates the gums pretty badly, but compared with the pain of having a living tooth drilled for a cavity, this pain is not so bad for me. But if you are more sensitive, most American dentists will use anesthesia for a root canal. You need not be afraid -- just find a dentist who practices painless dentistry. And root canals are usually done by specialists, called endodontists.  

Answer 5

I assume that was a rhetorical question (one you asked for effect, as we already know the answer).

Be glad, very glad, you have a choice and do not need to go to this quack again.

Answer 6

No it is wrong thing to do ...  in all sessions of a RCT procedure ...local anesthesia is obligatory till the RCT is completely done ... then we can say that we need no anesthesia for other task such as filling etc