The process of getting a root canal won’t hurt at all, but while you begin to heal and recover after your endodontic surgery, you may feel some pain and discomfort. If you’re experiencing tooth pain after a root canal, you may be wondering if you should be worried about your tooth, and what level of pain is normal. Find out now in this blog from Smillie Dental.
Is It Normal for My Tooth to Hurt After Root Canal Therapy?
If you have recently had your root canal at Smillie Dental, a little bit of pain and discomfort is normal as you heal. Usually, this will be quite minor. Your tooth may feel sore and tender, and you should be able to mitigate the pain with over-the-counter medication like acetaminophen or naproxen.
There are a couple of reasons this may happen. First, though the nerve-filled “pulp” is removed from your tooth, there are still other nerves and sensitive tissues near the canal of your tooth, and these can be irritated and become swollen or inflamed after your endodontic treatment, causing some minor discomfort.
In addition, because sharp dental instruments are used to clean out the tooth, it’s possible for a little bit of minor trauma to occur to the surrounding gum tissue while the root canals are cleaned out by Dr. Joseph Smillie.
Overall, though, you don’t need to worry. If you feel some minor pain and sensitivity for a few days, this is normal, and will fade over time as your mouth recovers from your root canal treatment.
Experiencing Severe Pain After a Root Canal? When to Worry and Seek Follow-up Care at Smillie Dental
So, when should you start to worry if you’re experiencing pain and discomfort after a root canal? If you feel severe, sharp pain, your toothache persists, or your pain continues to last for more than 1 week after your root canal has been performed at Smillie Dental, you should get a follow-up with Dr. Joseph Smillie.
If you continue to experience severe pain, it’s likely that the original infection was not completely removed during the initial root canal treatment. This usually happens if a tooth was cracked or damaged and this was not noticed during the treatment, or if it has a hidden root canal that was not cleaned out during the initial treatment.
If your tooth really hurts, make sure to schedule a follow-up right away. Dr. Smillie will likely recommend root canal retreatment to open the tooth back up and clean it out even more thoroughly. In the vast majority of cases, this will resolve your pain and keep your tooth healthy.
Don’t Ignore Your Tooth Pain – Get Help If You Need It!
Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. So whether you’ve gotten a root canal at Smillie Dental or with another local dentist, it’s important to get follow-up care as soon as you can if you are feeling a lot of pain in your tooth. Contact us online or give us a call at (386) 317-4754 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Smillie now!
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