I had an abscess in a front tooth (lower row, middle) and it hurt like hell... even worse, the dentist will not do anything until you've taken antibiotics for a couple of days - no sleep, no food, and no escape - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

I also had a dodgy back tooth once and had to have a part of the nerve-ending removed and the dentist (in Glasgow) told me he couldn't use too much anesthetic otherwise he couldn't tell where the nerve-endings were... I swear the man was a sadist - plus he did such a crap job of the filling, it needed replacing six months later - this was done by my old dentist and I didn't feel a thing. I remember yelping out loud many times during that hellish visit to the dentist in Glasgow and being quite shocked at how horrible the experience was. I came out to find a bunch of kids crying their eyes out, obviously terrified by the sounds of sheer agony coming from the dental theatre... I couldn't help but have a little chuckle about that