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She spent six hours in surgery and lost five litres of blood - all while under local anesthetic.

According to the guidelines, the topical anesthetic lidocaine “might be useful for reducing patient pain” when injected as a local anesthetic or applied topically as a numbing gel, cream or spray.

Usually the procedure can be carried out under local anesthetic, meaning the person is awake, and takes only about 15 minutes.

A survey published this year found that only 4% of trained physicians in the United States offered an injection of a local anesthetic, which has been found to be effective for pain relief.

Typically for root canal, patients receive a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth or teeth involved in the procedure.