It is not uncommon for pain and discomfort to persist after a root canal cleaning, and the patient may experience discomfort when biting food and pressing on the tooth. In some cases, it may indicate poor quality treatment or serious problems.
Should You Go to the Doctor Right Away if Your Tooth Hurts After a Root Canal Cleaning?
Root canal cleaning is a surgical procedure that is performed when infection and inflammation develops. It is most often performed for pulpitis or periodontitis. The soft tissues of the oral cavity are affected. Keep in mind that in this case, the already inflamed tissues are treated, and after clearing the inflammation persists for several days.
Therefore, a slight nagging pain after therapy is the norm and is not considered a cause for concern. At night, the pain often increases.
After a couple of days, the healing process enters an active phase, the pain slowly and gradually decreases, although pain and discomfort may persist for several weeks. They can be reduced or eliminated with anesthetic medications and gargles.
Pain syndrome may persist for a long time if the patient procrastinates visiting the dentist, causing the inflammation to become extensive and severe. That’s why it’s so important to see a specialist regularly, have preventive check-ups and see a dentist at the first sign of disease. The sooner the problem is detected, the less complicated and painful the treatment and rehabilitation will be.
When Tooth Pain After a Root Canal is Abnormal
If the pain does not subside within a few days and does not decrease, it may indicate complications or that the treatment was performed incorrectly.
When the pain syndrome acts as a symptom of pathology:
- If the pain does not decrease for several days;
- If the pain increases;
- If the pain is acute and throbbing;
- Swelling and severe swelling of the gum;
- increase in body temperature;
- a general deterioration of well-being.
In these cases, you should see a doctor immediately, there are complications after treatment.
Abnormal pain can be a consequence of a number of factors:
- a mistake made during treatment;
- poor-quality cleaning of the root canal – requires reopening and cleaning;
- a splinter of tooth or instrument left in the root canal cavity;
- Individual intolerance to the body, allergy to components in the filling material or medication;
- Poor quality of the filling, or the filling material protrudes over the surface of the tooth;
- Inflammation of the periodontal tissues – infection has spread from the pulp to the gum;
- perforation of the root canal walls due to accidental displacement of the instrument;
- In the course of treatment, the root of the tooth was affected and damaged;
- Infection penetration and re-inflammation development.
In all these cases, examination, diagnosis, identification of the problem and its prompt elimination are required.
Ignoring symptoms for a long time and delaying a visit to the dentist may worsen the inflammation and eventually require extraction of the tooth. Moreover, if not removed in time, the infection can spread to neighboring teeth, provoking inflammation and disease.
Under no circumstances should you try to eliminate the problem on your own, let alone apply heat, hot food or alcohol to the sore area – this will stimulate the development of inflammation and suppuration. The only option for solving the problem is an immediate visit to the clinic.