A root canal, also known as an endodontic treatment, is a safe and pain-free dental procedure used by dentists to treat damaged or decayed teeth. With the use of modern technology and local anesthesia, this treatment effectively treats diseased tooth pulp while preserving the rest of the tooth.
During the dental work procedure, a patient will be given local anesthesia to ensure a painless experience. However, after the completion of a root canal, it is common to experience some pain and discomforts due to the diseased pulp. There are several possible causes for this post-procedure pain.
Pain After Root Canal
Naturally, dental work should not cause pain, especially after the removal of sensitive living parts within the tooth’s pulp. The root canal treatment involves removing damaged or dead nerves and tissues from the teeth. Some nerve endings may still be present in the ligaments that connect the teeth to the surrounding bone. It is common to experience pain after the procedure if the nerves in the ligaments and surrounding tissue are inflamed or injured. Anesthesia is typically used during dental procedures to minimize discomfort.
It’s possible that you can experience sensitivity and discomforts around the treated tooth, but it should only last for a maximum of five days to seven days. However, if the pain persists longer than 3 days, few months or years after the procedure, then there might be a problem somewhere. Severe pain that lasts for a long time after a root canal treatment is abnormal. As we move on through this article, I will reveal to you some of possible causes of pain after a root canal.
Why You Feel Pain After A Root Canal
1. Infected Tooth Root
Infection and inflammation of the tissues at the end of the tooth root, known as pulp, can cause persistent pain after a root canal procedure. It is possible for a tooth to become infected even after visiting a dentist for a root canal. Bacteria from saliva or around the tooth can enter the tooth root through the filling, leading to discomfort. During the procedure, the files used to clean the tooth roots may go slightly beyond the end of the tooth, potentially introducing bacteria or temporarily damaging the ligaments.
The presence of bacteria inside the tooth roots can result in a dental infection and inflammation within just a few days. The infection and inflammation can irritate the dentist, jaw, and surrounding tissues, causing severe pain and discomfort. Seeking immediate help from a dentist is crucial in such cases.
2. Instrument Damage
During the procedure, it is possible that a dental instrument used to clean out the root canal can inadvertently damaged the sensitive surrounding tissue. (1) Apart from this, the tooth can also start to hurt if you bite down heavily on hard foods using the tooth. Although, cases like this can be easily corrected at the dentists office. The bite should be adjusted, while the damage can be repaired.
3. Continued Infection
You can still feel pain on the tooth, if an infection is still present around the end of the tooth roots after the root canal have been completed. In most cases, the treated tooth can get infected through a fracture on the surface of the tooth. If the tooth was not crowned or filled properly, bacteria can still work their way into the tooth and eventually into the bone around the root. In rare cases, the dentist may miss an infected canal, leaving a bit of nerve inside the tooth or a small pocket where bacteria can form an infection. In such cases like these, the tooth could remain inflamed and painful. If it turns out that the infection continued, your dentist may need to repeat the treatment or extract the tooth entirely.
4. Wrong Filling or Crown
You can experience persistent pain and discomfort after the root canal, if your fillings or crown was not done properly. If the filling or crown is higher than the surrounding teeth, it can cause the mouth to bite harder on that spot. The opposite tooth will continue to exert much force on the tooth and this would make the treated tooth sore and cause pain. Luckily, this problem is quite very easy to fix. The dentist will simply need to adjust or smoothen the filling or crown in order to remove the high spot on the tooth. (2)
5. A Solution Leak
During root canal treatments, dentists do apply some chemicals that enables faster washing away of the infected or damaged nerves and tissues within the tooth. Most of this solution are specially designed to kill bacteria, dissolve and wash away any remaining nerve tissue during the process. But before the application of such chemicals, dentists normally cover the tooth root tips in order to avoid leakages. Some of these solutions can cause immediate pain and damages to the healthy surrounding tissues.
In rare cases, some of the solution can leak out of the root tip, causing immediate pain to the tissues surrounding the tooth and mouth canal. If such a problem occurs, the dentist will flush and dress the area immediately in order to lessen the damages. You may need to take some antibiotics and painkillers for a few weeks until the pain subsides.
Final Thoughts
Persistent severe pain after a root canal procedure is not normal at all. It’s safe to say that many people feel a little sensitive or tender for a few days after having a root canal. Normally, it’s expected that the sensitivity and discomfort associated with a root canal should go away within a few days, it should not exceed one week. Well, most people do experiencing severe pain and discomforts which lasts longer than expected. If you’re experiencing more pain than expected after a root canal, don’t wait for the condition to worsen.
Fortunately, there are effective remedies for pain after root canal. Depending on the underlying cause of your pain, the dentist will be in a better position to identify the suitable treatment or solution to your problem. You may need to take some antibiotics if the pain is as a result of infection, you might even end up repeating the root canal procedure itself. Well, if the pain is severe or unrelieved by the available measures, you may have to extract the tooth. You can check here to learn more on – Tooth extraction vs Root Canal.