Please tell me, are root canals and extractions painful?

Usually not: If there is no active infection and sufficient anesthesia is used, usually 95% of these procedures are pain free.

Root canals not: Painful, but often the reason you need to get a root canal (infection) is painful. The root canal treatment clears up the infection and makes the pain go away. If you have a really bad infection it can be harder to make the tooth adequately numb. Often antibiotics are prescribed to help shrink the infection prior to having the root canal done.