Is Root Canal Therapy Painful?
You visit your dentist with unbearable pain in a specific tooth with lingering sensitivity to temperatures trying to determine the reasons for the discomfort. After taking x-rays and examining your tooth, the dentist recommends endodontic treatment to overcome the pain you experience.
If you aren’t aware of what endodontic treatment means, it is an alternative name for root canal treatment. Understanding the term will probably cause more discomfort in your mind besides stress wondering about the pain you must experience when undergoing this fearsome treatment. You might even consider refusing the treatment until you hear your dentist saying it is the sole remedy to save your natural tooth.
Considering how expensive it would be to have artificial teeth replacing your natural tooth, you accept the dentist’s proposal. Still, you remain concerned about the pain you will likely endure after receiving root canal therapy in East York, Toronto, ON.
This article describes the pain from this treatment besides explaining how long the pain lasts after a root canal. Kindly continue reading to keep yourself informed about this tooth-saving procedure.
How Painful Can a Root Canal Be?
If you suffer from excruciating pain in a specific tooth with sensitivity to temperatures, you will likely confront challenges eating or drinking anything hot or cold. In addition, the dental pulp infection within your tooth can potentially spread to your jawbone and entire body if left untreated, causing multiple complications to your general health.
When you accept to have your tooth treated by receiving endodontic therapy, you allow your dentist in m4c 5m2 a specialist to perform root canals to eradicate the infection in your tooth, clean and disinfect the canals and fill the tooth with a temporary filling to complete the treatment in approximately 90 minutes if the therapy is needed on an anterior tooth. However, if you need a root canal on a molar containing multiple canals, you must prepare for two dentist visits to receive the treatment.
Root canals undoubtedly have a fearsome reputation because of the earlier lack of advances in dentistry and modern anesthesia. However, present-day Endodontists have the technology in possession and modern anesthetics to ensure you endure no pain when undergoing the procedure.
When you arrive for your appointment, the specialist examines your tooth again to determine the extent of the damage created by the dental pulp infection. After that, you receive adequate anesthesia in the mouth and near the affected tooth to ensure you feel no discomfort when the dentist works on your tooth. The specialist creates an access hole in the crown of your tooth to expose the infected or inflamed dental pulp and removes it from its chamber. Next, they clean and disinfect the pulp chamber and root canals before sealing them with a rubber-like biocompatible gutta-percha with adhesives to seal the canals. The specialist recommends you get the tooth restored with a dental crown after recovering from your procedure.
How Long Does the Pain Last from a Root Canal?
The pain you anticipated from a root canal starts affecting you a few hours after receiving the treatment when the anesthesia starts wearing off. However, discomforting, you will likely not feel the pain because the specialist recommends a prescription painkiller besides antibiotics to prevent infections. The specialist also provides after-care instructions asking you not to bite and chew with the treated tooth and refrain from having extremely hot or freezing foods until you recover from the process in a few days.
You also receive instructions not to smoke or consume alcohol because the chemicals from tobacco can cause infections, and alcohol interacts with the pain relievers to cause additional discomfort.
You can expect the pain from root canal therapy to last approximately ten days but will likely realize that the excruciating toothache affecting the treated tooth has disappeared.
Root canal therapy prevents pain from occurring in your tooth by eradicating a severe infection with the potential to cause tooth loss if left untreated. After you get the treated tooth restored with a dental crown, you can use the tooth as your remaining tooth because the dental crown restores its strength, size, and appearance.
The treatment you receive from an endodontic specialist eliminates the pain from an infected tooth to help you have it for life after restoring it with a dental crown. The pain from root canals is merely a myth better overlooked because endodontic specialists help you manage the pain during and after receiving this treatment.
Danforth Village Dental Center performs root canal therapy on many patients helping them preserve their natural teeth. If you experience the symptoms described earlier, please schedule an appointment with this dental Center to protect your natural tooth.