my first root canal

I used to have an NHS dentist.  I last went to them during Covid, for an emergency repair of a broken filling.  This May, I realised I hadn’t been since then, so I phoned up to make an appointment, as I have been doing for the last two decades.  “You’ve been deregistered”.  “Why?!?” “Because you haven’t come for a while.” “But, but, you were closed for Covid, and never said when you reopened.” “Tough, you should have called earlier.” (I paraphrase, but not much.)

The next nearest dentist taking NHS patients was over 70 miles, or two counties, away.  So, after much grumbling about the government's failure to fund the NHS dentistry service properly (or basically, at all), I reluctantly had to go private.  At least this gave me the opportunity to find one closer to home than before. 

The first dentist I tried wasn’t taking new patients, even private ones. The second was, so I registered in May, yet the first appointment I could get for a check-up was in August.  (Well, to be fair, I could have had one in July, but I was travelling a lot for conference season then.)  At the check-up, it was noted I needed a couple of fillings replacing: they had been giving me some mild discomfort, which is what reminded me I was due a check-up in the first place.  The next appointment available was October, at which point I was told one of the fillings being replaced was quite deep, and might not “take”. Sure enough, it never really settled, and a month later it started actively hurting. I got an emergency appointment (after sitting on hold for ages, listening to adverts about how convenient it was to go private, because you could get appointments whenever you needed).  An X-ray revealed that root canal was needed.  The earliest appointment available with the root canal specialist: 3 weeks.

So, lots of ibuprofen later, today was root canal day.  Now, I've only ever heard of this process used as a metaphor for something extremely unpleasant, so I was a little concerned.  The NHS website helpfully says Root canal treatment is not painful, which was mildly reassuring, however.

The NHS website is correct.  The procedure was less painful (although considerably longer) than the original filling that was done in October.  I do have to wait with a rough tooth surface until a crown can be fixed, in February.  This time, though, the wait is deliberate, it to let things “settle”.

So, why does root canal have this scary reputation?  I suspect what has happened is that dentistry technology has just improved drastically since I was young.  I was already aware that fillings are nothing like as traumatic as they used to be.  In particular, anaesthetics are faster to take (essentially instant; no sitting in the waiting room for 20 minutes until fully numb, or not quite as numb as it needs to be), and faster to wear off (about an hour after the procedure is over, rather than the rest of the day).  And the fillings themselves set faster and better: I was told not to eat on the tooth, or drink anything hot, for an hour, and that was only because I might bite or burn myself while numb; no more waiting a couple of days for things to set properly.  I have been told not to bite on hard or crunchy food on the tooth until it has been crowned, though, which seems fair enough.  The most painful part was the cost: an order of magnitude more expensive than on the NHS.

So, hugely better technology over the years. And hugely inferior access.