I had one on one of my front teeth, it did not hurt at all, I think that a filling hurts more than a root canal. I gag too, so I don't let them put that gauze in my mouth, at the first touch of it, I start gaging. Honestly, I have heard horror stories about root canals, and I was scared to death to have one, so honestly it did not hurt, other than the normal hurt from the shot to numb it. Good luck, go for it, maybe you can take some kind of relaxer....