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The root canal has been drubbed through the years for its agonizing exploits. While much deserved in the past, its dreaded historical references have hung on too long.

Just like the fact that your barber is no longer also your dentist, root canal (or endodontic) therapy has changed dramatically since the nomads of dental horror yore told those first stories.

While Hollywood still portrays dentists as pain inducing sociopaths rather than professionals that actually REMOVE pain from our lives, almost every dental procedure has been "comfort enclosed" in some way over the last decade or so. This is not even considering all the amenities many dentists include during dental visits.

The "Dental Spa" is the most obvious example of comfort enclosure amenities concept - but many dental practices offer conscious sedation or other non-medication distractions like DVD movies and such.

This is not to say that some people won't still have fears or anxieties about pain. Yes, and any amount of poking around in the mouth might still set some people off no matter how "gentle" dentists are. But like many things we have been worried about - the actual result is much less than what we build it up to be through ignorance or unhealthy procrastination.

Recently, one of my young daughters cried the night before a dental visit, during breakfast before it and on the drive there. Then she got to the dental office and went straight to their "anxiety reduction video game arcade". Then after her visit she smiled and said, "Dad, look at the balloon the dentist made into to a puppy dog."

I asked if she was still afraid of the dentist or the dental visit - and she looked at me like I was from another planet. So I asked her, "Did the dentist convince you with balloon art hypnosis and heavy psychotropic drugs to forget about it." "No," she said, "I just forgot how much fun it was to come here!" I muttered, "Huh." Then she grabbed her favorite Martian's hand and we walked out the door.

Root canals are not a child's dental health checkup visit -- but as adults we have felt many of the true woes of life - so we should have some mental calluses to deal with it. Additionally, something that will probably SAVE our tooth so we avoid lots continuous pain and daily frustrations -- should be approached more positively.

Truthfully, I have tried floating in the river of dental denial to get some respite from my dental health worries - but waking up to inhale the Novocain triple latte has often made my life better.

Of course, my dentist also lets me play Caddyshack, the video game, and I forget about everything---as I blow up gopher after gopher. Of course, he has to treat me in the evening because I only will do it with surround sound. Other patients seem to feel this is not very conducive to their dental treatment.

These oddball dental patients must really drive him wild. Not able to enjoy a classic movie made into a superior gaming experience. Now who is from another planet?

Besides the various distractions the dentist can throw at you during a root canal - whether or not your fellow patients have the same deep appreciation for art as you do - the treatment has been revised significantly. While it is still an urban legend, oral tradition to speak of it in words of dread, root canals are much shorter (less than an hour rather than two or more) and usually completed in one visit as opposed to three or more.

Your dental health never had it so good! While you won't be playing ring tones of your last dental visit any time soon, you should put away your old ideas and step up to the Novocain bar of a more pleasant reality.

I got root canals on the brain after my associate sent me an email about a story from the New York Times. Novelties: You've Had the Root Canal. Now See the Movie.

The Youtube root canal video does a good job explaining how endodontic therapy has changed. But it reminds me of watching from the balcony during an operation as if I am a medical student. This might not bother the non-fearful - those who just want to know exactly what is going on really appreciate this level of education. That is why these little vignettes are a popular youtube.com category even if they do not present new dental treatments in a completely effective way.

The end of it probably should have been the beginning. Jumping right into the process without showing the dental patients after the procedure puts some suspense on this ride that might put a few people over the dental visit edge. Dentist Jerry Gordon of Bensalem, PA even mentions at the end that - paraphrasing "See. She made it through the root canal procedure all right".

Luckily he did not wipe the sweat off his brow throughout the procedure. But implying that there was some doubt with his screen writing, editing and directorial choices meant he lost the Dental Video Academy Award for dental videos. This highly coveted award is given out every year to the dentist that shows the most promise in bringing a positive message to the dental consuming public.

(The organization responsible for this prize is Dental Phobia Patients Anonymous. I am on the board of directors. While there is little oversight of its CEO, my BOD compensation covers any lawsuits for my lack of due diligence.)

The NY Times also loses my vote - for its lack of creativity in bringing up Hollywood movies with negative depictions of dentists or dentistry in them. It seems they have not gotten far from the barbershop of stale dental horror stories as well. So why is it that the newspaper industry is struggling? "Behind the York Times" might be a better name. "New" just does not seem to work anymore.

More on root canal - endodontic treatment - from the American Dental Association.

Sincerely,
RAC

Dental blog with spunk and creativity - dedicated to informing the consumer