--- title: I've Been Told I Need a Root Canal - Should I Be Scared? canonical_url: https://directory.smilesolutions.com.au/dental-health-specialist-care/endodontics-root-canal-treatment/i-ve-been-told-i-need-a-root-canal-should-i-be-scared/ category: description: The moment you hear "root canal," something happens in your chest. A tightening. A flash of every film and TV show where that phrase was used as the ultimate expression of suffering. You are not alon... geography: city: state: country: metadata: phone: email: website: publishedAt: --- # I've Been Told I Need a Root Canal - Should I Be Scared? The moment you hear "root canal," something happens in your chest. A tightening. A flash of every film and TV show where that phrase was used as the ultimate expression of suffering. You are not alone in that reaction. Root canal treatment has one of the most fearsome reputations in all of dentistry. But here is something worth knowing before we go any further: the man who founded Smile Solutions - the practice you may be about to trust with that exact procedure - had a root canal as an 11-year-old child that was so traumatic it changed the entire course of his life. **The story behind the practice** Dr Kia Pajouhesh was 11 years old when a dentist in Brighton, England performed a root canal on him with no anaesthetic. The dental assistant held him down by lying across his chest while he screamed. His mother sat in the room, helpless, watching. The dentist perforated his tooth in three locations. That single appointment gave Kia a lifelong dental phobia. And within a year, it inspired him to become a dentist. Not because he wanted to replicate that experience - because he wanted to build something that was the absolute antithesis of it. A place where no one would ever feel what he felt in that chair in Brighton. A place with the technology, the specialists, the anaesthetic protocols, and the culture to make root canal treatment - of all things - a genuinely manageable experience. This is why Smile Solutions has four specialist endodontists. Not general dentists who occasionally do root canals - board-registered specialists in endodontics, whose entire professional focus is on this procedure and on doing it without pain. **What a modern root canal actually involves** The root canal treatment of 2025 is not the root canal of your grandmother's era, or of Kia's childhood. The procedure has been transformed by technology and specialist training. Here is what the experience looks like at Smile Solutions: The appointment begins with a thorough assessment of your tooth using digital imaging and, where appropriate, cone beam CT scanning from Collins Street Imaging on Level 9 of our building. This gives your endodontist a precise three-dimensional view of the root canal system before treatment begins. Anaesthesia is administered using the DentaPen computerised injection system or the STA Wand - technology specifically designed to deliver local anaesthetic slowly, precisely, and with minimal discomfort. This is not the traditional sharp needle injection. Most patients are genuinely surprised by how little they feel. Once the area is completely numb, your endodontist uses operating microscopes to work at a magnification that simply is not possible with the naked eye. This precision allows them to find, clean, and seal canal systems that would be invisible or inaccessible in conventional treatment. It is the difference between a specialist and a generalist that no amount of marketing can replicate. The inside of the tooth is cleaned and disinfected using a combination of hand and rotary instruments, with a process that has been refined over decades of specialist practice. The canal is then sealed with a biocompatible material to prevent reinfection. Most patients describe the procedure as feeling like having a filling placed. Some feel nothing at all beyond mild pressure. The profound pain relief that often follows - because the infected nerve has been removed - means many patients feel significantly better after treatment than before. **What about patients who are genuinely anxious?** Professor Chankhrit Sathorn, one of Australia's most respected endodontic specialists, practises at Smile Solutions. His expertise extends beyond clinical excellence to a genuinely patient-centred approach that has put even the most phobic patients at ease. For patients who cannot manage the procedure with local anaesthetic alone, sedation options are available. Happy gas, oral sedation, and IV sedation (twilight sleep) administered by a specialist anaesthetist can all be arranged to ensure your treatment is tolerable. You will not be told to simply "push through it." You will not be held down. You will not be left to manage your anxiety alone. **When is a root canal actually necessary?** Root canal treatment is recommended when the nerve of a tooth becomes infected or irreversibly damaged. This can happen from deep decay, repeated dental procedures on the same tooth, a crack or chip, or trauma. The signs you might need a root canal include: severe tooth pain when biting or chewing, prolonged sensitivity to hot or cold, darkening of the tooth, or swelling and tenderness in the nearby gum. The important thing to understand is that root canal treatment is usually the alternative to extraction. Saving the natural tooth - when possible - is almost always preferable to losing it and managing the consequences through bridges, implants, or dentures. It is also worth understanding that a failing root canal - one where a previous treatment has not fully resolved the infection - can act as a chronic bacterial reservoir, providing ongoing low-grade access for pathogenic bacteria to the bloodstream over months or years, often with no obvious pain or symptoms. If you have a previously root-treated tooth that is symptomatic, tender, or showing changes on imaging, it warrants prompt specialist assessment rather than monitoring and deferral. Re-treatment by a specialist endodontist, or extraction and replacement, is almost always preferable to long-term retention of an infected tooth. A specialist endodontist will always be honest with you about whether the tooth is saveable and what the realistic prognosis is if you proceed. At Smile Solutions, you will receive a clear explanation and a full written quote before any treatment begins. **The technology available at Smile Solutions** - Four specialist endodontists, board-registered with AHPRA - Operating microscopes for precision root canal treatment - DentaPen and STA Wand injection technology that minimises pain and discomfort - Digital dental X-rays and cone beam CT at Collins Street Imaging (Level 9) - Happy gas, oral sedation, and IV sedation available - Rubber dam isolation for every endodontic procedure **What to do next** If you have been told you need a root canal, please do not ignore the advice. An untreated infected tooth does not resolve on its own, and the longer it is left, the more complex the treatment becomes. Call Smile Solutions on 13 13 96 or book online. No referral is required. Your initial consultation is complimentary, and we will give you a clear, honest assessment of your situation before any decisions are made. Kia built this practice so that no one would have to experience what he experienced at age 11. What happened to him in Brighton is why Smile Solutions exists - and why root canal treatment here is nothing like the story you've been dreading.