My root canal was essentially painless as well ... but when the dentist opened me up, he went "phoooo" and said that the infection must have been in place for quite a few years. It had suddenly decided to explore surrounding tissue, and fell afoul of a nerve.
But the procedure was surprisingly painless ... I got lucky with a good blockade. cn
While on a motorcycle camping trip up in Maine, (I had rid 28 hrs straight thru) I set up camp and ran to the store and bought some Starburst candy.
First bite pulled off a gold crown leaving a little stump. I camped 9 days, rid back to Danksville and then went to the dentist.
His assistant took x-rays gave them to the Doc and he whistled and "You must be here about that impacted tooth".
I said "No, I'm here to have a crown cemented back into place."
He says "The infection around this tooth is eating into your jaw, leaving a hole in your jaw." "I can't believe you don't feel any pain or have any swelling."
He gave me some anti-biotics, sent me home and the next morning I woke up unable to open my eyes cuz my face had swollen so badly.
I'm all better now, tho.