I went in for my first filling. I kept filling some pain. She numbed me a second time, but it didn’t really help. Then she stopped, put in a temporary filling, and told me I needed a root canal. Is it possible I should have just been tougher and I don’t really need a root canal?

Deanne, from Albany, NY

Deanne,

I don’t think the problem was you not being tough enough. Sometimes, a dentist won’t know you actually need a root canal until they get in to do the filling. It’s likely that the cavity was deeper than was visible on the x-ray. If she got in there and saw that it had reached to pulp of your tooth, it was time to do a root canal.

That may have been one of the reasons that you weren’t able to get as numb as she was expecting. An infection can make it more difficult to get numb. Another thing that affects anesthetic is anxiety. If you are highly fearful of dental procedures, you can burn off all the numbing agent. One solution to this is to use sedation dentistry. This takes the edge off your anxiety and allows the anesthetic to work.

This blog is brought to you by Oklahoma City Dentist Dr. Don Swearingen.