The Reason Your Tooth Hurts after a Root Canal

The procedure of getting a root canal isn’t as painful as described by many. However, after undergoing a root canal, you can anticipate discomfort after the anesthesia wears off. The dentist in Stockton suggests you take a prescription or over-the-counter painkillers for relief.

What Is a Root Canal?

Root canals are intensive procedures to eradicate a severe infection inside your tooth developing from untreated cavities or injuries on your mouth, leaving chips and cracks on your tooth. The infection or damage to your tooth would have encouraged your mouth bacteria to penetrate deep into it and infect its soft center, the dental pulp causing severe pain and sensitivity in a specific tooth. The Stockton dentist would have suggested a root canal to eliminate the pain you experience and save your natural tooth.

Why Does a Root Canal hurt after the procedure?

The root canal procedure requires the Stockton dentist to drill holes in the crown of your tooth and insert flexible instruments to extract the infected or inflamed dental pulp, clean the canals, and fill and seal them to prevent further infection. The tiny opening created by the dentist in the crown of your tooth receives a temporary filling that requires replacement with a dental crown after you recover.

You will likely not experience pain when endodontics in Stockton, CA, open your tooth for cleaning and dental pulp extraction. The professionals are experts in pain management and give you adequate anesthesia or sedation if required to manage dental anxiety. While you will experience some pressure in your mouth during the process, the likelihood of enduring pain is negligible. Unfortunately, the anesthesia wears off in four to six hours, causing mild pain in the tooth, which you can alleviate by taking the medications suggested by the dentist. In addition, the pain from a root canal is directly related to the procedure, not the infection in your tooth, which the dentist eliminates.

Although the pain is discomforting, it should subside within a few days to relieve the toothache you experienced earlier. However, if the pain doesn’t subside, it can make you wonder why does my root canal tooth hurt. Let us explain why you would experience pain from the tooth after receiving a root canal.

Endodontic procedures require flexible instruments to be inserted into your tooth to remove the infected dental pulp and clean the canals. The chances of the tools damaging the surrounding gum tissue inside the tooth exist. In addition, if you had endodontic treatment on a molar containing multiple canals, chances of the dentist overlooking the cleaning of the canal also exist. However, you can call the dental practice soon as you begin experiencing the discomfort because the pain is curable with medications or another root canal.

Steps to Take to Ease the Pain after a Root Canal

The stock dentist suggests or prescribes taking painkillers to alleviate the discomfort after receiving a root canal. They recommend caring for your tooth appropriately by having soft foods, avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and smoking, and exercising caution when brushing the treated tooth because you might dislodge the temporary filling placed in the access hole created by the dentist to access the dental pulp. You must follow the dentist’s instructions stringently because any exceptions will make you prone to pain after a root canal. While the painkillers help alleviate some discomfort, the care you provide your tooth helps ease the pain and enables you to recover quickly after the procedure.

When Should You See A Dentist After A Root Canal?

The pain from a root canal should subside within a week after receiving the treatment. However, if you experience severe pain in the tooth that doesn’t subside within a week after your root canal, you must contact the provider to determine what’s wrong with your tooth.

Ongoing pain after a root canal indicates some infection remains in your tooth following root canal treatment. As explained earlier, you might have additional canals in the tooth that the dentist overlooked during the initial procedure. Therefore if you experience excruciating pain, you must contact the Stockton dentist immediately and accept their suggestion to receive root canal re-treatment by opening the tooth and cleaning it thoroughly.

Pain in the body always indicates something is wrong within, making it essential to discuss the discomfort with the dentist and receive follow-up care as soon as possible to prevent further damage to your tooth.

Morada Dental & Orthodontics performs many root canal procedures on patients and occasionally receives complaints of pain weeks or months after completing the process. Therefore, root canal re-treatments are not unusual and might be required if your tooth has multiple canals or has incurred additional injuries. If you confront a similar situation, consult with the dentist at this practice to receive the treatment you need as soon as possible.