By Dr. Midhula Sathyan, Endodontist
I hear this almost every week in my clinic: someone finally comes in after putting off treatment for months, sits down, and the first thing they say is some version of “Doctor, please be gentle, I’ve heard root canals are terrible.”
Honestly, I understand why. Somewhere along the way, “root canal” became the go-to phrase for anything unpleasant — even people who’ve never had one use it as a joke. But after doing these procedures for over a decade, I can tell you the reality is very different from the reputation.
The pain people remember is from before treatment, not from it
Here’s what’s actually happening in most cases. By the time someone comes to see me, the tooth has usually been hurting for a while — sometimes days, sometimes weeks. There’s inflammation, sometimes infection, and that’s genuinely painful. Throbbing, sensitivity to hot and cold, pain when you bite down.
Then we do the root canal, the pain goes away over the next few days, and somewhere in memory, the treatment gets blamed for pain that the infected tooth was actually causing all along. It’s a bit like blaming the ambulance for the accident.
What it actually feels like on the chair
With good local anesthesia, most of my patients tell me it felt like nothing more than a long filling appointment. A bit of pressure sometimes, maybe some vibration from the instruments — but not pain. I’ve had patients genuinely surprised afterward, saying “that’s it?”
I use a dental microscope for these procedures, which lets me see the inside of the tooth far more clearly than the naked eye ever could. It makes the whole process more precise, which in my experience makes it more comfortable too — less guesswork means less unnecessary manipulation of the tooth.
Is there any pain afterward?
Some mild tenderness for a day or two is normal — similar to how your tooth might feel after any dental work. Regular painkillers handle it fine for most people. It’s nowhere close to the pain that brought them in originally.
Why waiting usually makes it worse, not better
This is the part I really want people to understand: putting off treatment because you’re afraid of pain often leads to more pain, not less. Untreated infections don’t just sit there — they can spread, get worse, and sometimes end up needing extraction instead, which is a bigger loss than most people realize. Saving your natural tooth is almost always better for you long-term than losing it.
A few things that make treatment easier
- Seeing a specialist matters — as an endodontist, this is what I focus on, day in and day out, not an occasional procedure between other work
- Most straightforward cases, I can complete in a single sitting, so you’re not coming back for multiple rounds of anesthesia
- Using a microscope lets me work more precisely, which generally means a smoother experience for you
Quick questions I get asked a lot
Does it actually hurt during the procedure? No — with proper anesthesia, you shouldn’t feel pain, just some pressure at most. That’s been consistent across the vast majority of patients I’ve treated.
How long does a root canal take? Most straightforward cases, I finish in a single sitting — usually somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the tooth.
Will I need a crown afterward? Often yes, especially for back teeth that do a lot of chewing work. I’ll tell you clearly at the time whether your specific tooth needs one.
Is it better than just removing the tooth? In almost every case, yes. Keeping your natural tooth is better for your bite, your jawbone, and your wallet long-term compared to extraction and replacement.
My honest advice
If you’ve been sitting with tooth pain and putting off getting it checked because of what you’ve heard about root canals, please don’t let that stop you. The fear is almost always worse than the actual experience. And the tooth pain you’re avoiding dealing with tends to get worse, not better, the longer you wait.
If you’re not sure whether what you’re feeling needs a root canal or something else, come in and let’s just take a look — no pressure, just a straight answer about what’s going on and what your options are.
Dr. Midhula Sathyan BEST Dental Clinic, Elamakkara, Kochi +91 96568 21809 |
Want more detail on the full procedure? Here’s our complete guide: Root Canal Treatment in Elamakkara, Kochi