>I had a lovely root canal this morning. In spite of all the comedians telling us they'd rather have a root canal than meet their mother in law, it remains a painless procedure for me. How about you?

I skip the novocaine.
I bit the inside of my cheek the last time I used novocaine, and that hurt for days.

Heat from the grinding is the cause of the pain, and a good dentist can control the heat.
Without novocaine, the dentist is very careful to keep the tooth cooled with water while grinding :)