Damn, I feel lucky as hell after reading some of these stories
Had a root canal done in January 2017. For awhile, I would randomly have some pain when chewing on that side, but it wasn't excruciating. I should've gone to the dentist earlier, but I had hoped it would go away. I go see the dentist in December 2016 and he does X-rays.
Dentist: "You aren't in any pain right now?"
Me: "No."
Dentist: "It may take 2 weeks, it may take 2 days, it make take 2 hours... but you will be."
Me:
He referred me to a root canal specialist. Bad thing was I had to wait a month (due to the holidays) to get in with him. The pain never arrived. It was just uncomfortable sitting there in the chair for like an hour while he did his thing, but it was painless dental work for me. All they gave me was a prescription for ibuprofen, which I could buy over the counter myself.
Didn't need it anyway.
But then I had to get my wisdom teeth removed a week or two after that...