Painful drilling at the dentist

Has anyone had a painful drilling experience at the dentist?

I had one when I was 13/14. They said I had two small cavities in two back molars. They said that I wouldn't need anesthetic because they were small but the drilling got really uncomfortable and painful and wouldn't stop. They saw that I was uncomfortable but I thought it was supposed to be that way or that I was just a wuss. I gripped the armrests and my whole body was tense. Anyone want to share their story?

No and I hope you never went back to that dentist! There is no excuse for doing that

I am pretty sure I would bite a dentist who did that to me!

Yes about 5 years ago i had filling on my lower molar. They numbed me up but I could still feel the drill. It was pretty painful towards the end.

I need plenty of lidocaine at the dentist. I recently had to find a new dentist, because the one that I went to, was incompetent, and didn’t use enough lidocaine. She missed several advanced cavities.

When i was a teen I had 2 very large filling that needed doing at the lower back , the top of tooth and sides , the dentist had my mouth stretched so tight I thought it was going to break , then he selected the drill and worked on those teeth so hard and felt like so long with no break , I wasn’t expecting it to be so brutal , he kept saying , just a little bit more , the drill was very loud too , i was thinking how everyone could hear it

I’ve had many painful dental visits. That’s why I have to take anti anxiety meds. before going to them. I recently left a dentist, because she didn’t numb me up well, and after jumping out of the chair, for the second time , I had had enough. My new dentist drills very slowly, takes frequent breaks, and ensures that I’m comfortable.

I would never return to that dentist. Anyone who tells you that a few small drills won't hurt is either cutting corners (saving time/money on anaesthetic and waiting for it to act) or else is a sadist. As a child of the 1970s, I went with my siblings to a dentist who 'didn't believe in giving anaesthetic injections to kids'. We all seemed to have fillings almost every visit. The drill was the older slow type with rubber drive belts you could see moving. Feeling the sustained pain as I stared into that bright light was one of those terrible childhood traumatic memories. As an adult, the odd under-numbed drilling has been pretty horrible. But as a youngster with no jab given every single time, well, that guy enjoyed hurting children.

As a kid back in the 1950’s & 1960’s, I NEVER got numbing injections for the many fillings I got. It was a matter of gripping the armrests and hunkering down for 10-15 minutes of pure torture! Going to the dentist was, INDEED, a painful and very much hated event. For the last twenty plus years, I have been seeing a dentist who really knows how to deal with pain. With all those very old amalgam fillings in my mouth, I frequently have to have one or more of them replaced…which requires MORE drilling to remove them! Yuck! In the last six months, I’ve had two very old (and LARGE) fillings replaced as they were deteriorating. Each time, when I sat in his dental chair, I noticed two fully loaded dental syringes lined up on the tray with all the other usual implements of dental destruction! First, my dentist takes a q-tip loaded with a topical pain killer and liberally rubs the gum areas that will be injected. Then he VERY SLOWLY injects the good stuff. I feel no pain whatsoever. He makes small talk for a few minutes to allow the numbing juice to take hold. Bottom line! NO PAIN DENTISTRY! It’s so good, I almost look forward to going back for more!

I really liked TM 48's post on this.

In the UK also, kids didn't get anaesthesia for fillings in the 1960s. I was luckier than TM48. I never had a painful experience but I do remember clutching the arms of the chair convinced I'd get a stab of pain at any moment. Also, you could feel every detail of the probing, the drilling and packing in the silver amalgam filling. I found it all pretty unpleasant. Much prefer going to the dentist now.

It might just have been the dentists I went to, of course, not every dentist. But I also remember being told that for an extraction, kids got general anaesthesia (feeling sick and dizzy with nitrous oxide) and only adults had the choice of that or local anaesthetic. Perhaps dentists felt kids couldn't cope with the injections in their mouths for local numbing?

No general anaesthesia now at the dentist in UK unless it's a big or hospital surgery with an anaesthetist as well as dental surgeons.

@Jani I have the same experience. As a teenager, I had 2 small cavities drilled without numb and the drill was painful. The dentist saw that I was uncomfortable but he said it was not necessary to numb me like the cavity was almost removed.

You want painful drilling - back in the early 1950's before high-speed drills and without anything to kill pain had the underside of three of my upper front teeth drilled at the gum line and filled. 😢😢😢 Looking at me you'd think I have perfect teeth and I'm now so thankful for the skill and persistence of the dentist who saved my froth teeth.

I’ve had some painful drillings. Most have been self-inflicted however with requesting to have no anesthetic. They can get really painful if your cavity is close to the nerve.

Yeah a couple months ago actually as I was running late for my appointment by about 15minutes and the moment I got in and into the chair with the bib on he opted for anaesthetic for it since I was running late and had to have a pretty big bit drilled out which was definitely painful and made me grip the chair a bit. Not even anything to keep my mouth open I'm surprised I didn't bite him by mistake haha. Had the same thing again a few months later where he has to stick the drill deep into a tooth to clear out the decay that built up and by god no numbing hurt like hell haha.

Previous dentist, there was a reason I switched, current one has been quite considerate, only had breakthrough pain twice.

My worse experience with a dentist is when he gave me a novacaine injection between my two middle front teeth in preparation for a filling. I literally slid down into my chair almost horizontal and had a tear roll out of my one eye from the pain of the injection. The novacaine had no effect what so ever and when it came time to drill, I just endured the pain of the drilling as it was much less than the injection. The dentist had no clue and I was sure not going to tell him!! Denise