And people wonder why some of us avoid dentists as if they were zombies or worse.
Because of that early experience, I long thought of myself as someone with a very low pain threshold. Actually, other than my teeth, I have a very high pain threshold, (I'll spare you the examples) but I don't think that way.
I am not really looking forward to the dental surgery and dentures, even though I know it's necessary. It helps me a little that my mother had very bad teeth, and had all of them extracted by about 1955. I have early memories of going with her to the dentist when I was very young.
She was toothless for at least two years, until they could afford to buy dentures. I do recall that she spent a lot of time and effort making sure they fit right. That set of dentures lasted the rest of her life, at least 35 years. If Mom could do it, so can I.
Back to root canals. That is not remotely a pain-free procedure. I wonder what on earth dentists would have been thinking.
In my case, the dentist seemed to get tired of my obvious expressions of pain and finally did some sort of anesthesia.
Fortunately, the oral surgeon I'll be seeing later on this month seems to be a strong proponent of adequate pain relief.
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