Doug Leone bragged astir having a guidelines canal done without anesthesia. Now the group who really do guidelines canals want a word.
By Jon Small | edited by Dan Bova | Sep 08, 2026
Doug Leone’s determination to skip Novocaine during a guidelines canal successful bid to not miss a gathering made for a awesome story. It’s besides really bad advice, according to the American Association of Endodontists.
The organization, which represents much than 8,000 guidelines canal specialists worldwide, says terrible symptom isn’t thing patients request to tough out. If a guidelines canal hurts, they should show their supplier truthful they tin get much anesthetic aliases a different approach.
The communicative besides touches connected an aged story about guidelines canals that the AAE wants to group straight. It utilized to beryllium considered 1 of the astir achy procedures successful dentistry, but decades of advances successful anesthetics, imaging and method person changed that. A guidelines canal shouldn’t consciousness immoderate different than getting a filling. And guidelines canals don’t origin symptom to statesman pinch — they relieve it by removing the inflamed aliases infected insubstantial that was apt the existent root of the toothache.
Leone, the Sequoia Capital president worthy an estimated $11.8 billion, has said he skipped the anesthetic connected purpose, conscionable to trial his grit earlier a meeting. It made for a bully tale. Dentists conscionable don’t want it to go a trend.
Doug Leone’s determination to skip Novocaine during a guidelines canal successful bid to not miss a gathering made for a awesome story. It’s besides really bad advice, according to the American Association of Endodontists.
The organization, which represents much than 8,000 guidelines canal specialists worldwide, says terrible symptom isn’t thing patients request to tough out. If a guidelines canal hurts, they should show their supplier truthful they tin get much anesthetic aliases a different approach.
The communicative besides touches connected an aged story about guidelines canals that the AAE wants to group straight. It utilized to beryllium considered 1 of the astir achy procedures successful dentistry, but decades of advances successful anesthetics, imaging and method person changed that. A guidelines canal shouldn’t consciousness immoderate different than getting a filling. And guidelines canals don’t origin symptom to statesman pinch — they relieve it by removing the inflamed aliases infected insubstantial that was apt the existent root of the toothache.
Leone, the Sequoia Capital president worthy an estimated $11.8 billion, has said he skipped the anesthetic connected purpose, conscionable to trial his grit earlier a meeting. It made for a bully tale. Dentists conscionable don’t want it to go a trend.
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