Pain after root canal

[Kings20]

So I had a root canal last Tuesday and they put a temporary crown on it. The temp crown was made from plastic I think its feels weird but otherwise ok. They told me not to eat on that side so I haven't but I notice every once in a while when i bite down I get pain in that tooth. Is this normal and will it go away once the permanent crown goes on?

Also since im kind of nervous about the crown coming off I haven't been brushing extremely well on that tooth and I am nervous its gonna mess up my root canal.

 

[Gordon]

Re: Post root canal

This should be a FAQ. I hate lazy endodontists who don't tell patients this kind of stuff

Basically with all the guddling about in the canals there is always a little bit of inflammation at the top of the root after a root canal. It's inevitably going to be tender to bite on for a few days and is perfectly normal.

Brushing your teeth or not won't make any difference to the success or failure of the root canal, but poor brushing will make it really difficult to get a nice new permanent crown on there, so get in there with the brush!

 

[alleyp]

Re: Post root canal

Gordon - I have taken note! could you make these types of questions sticky??

 

[Gordon]

Re: Post root canal

I don't know if I can, I'm not the site owner.

 

[Gordon]

Re: Post root canal

Woot, I think I did it

 

[alleyp]

Re: Post root canal

well done! FAQs - here we come!

 

[Kings20]

Re: Post root canal

Hi So I just got the permanent crown put on the tooth, I was wondering if its normal to feel some pain/sensitivy and for how long? They were digging pretty good with floss to remove extra cement so that could be why. I feel a tiny bit of pain if I bite down on the tooth so I'm not gonna eat on that side for atleast a day.

 

[Gordon]

Re: Post root canal

Yes, that would be fairly normal. Try not to keep "testing" it, otherwise it'll take longer to get better. (This is far easier said than done though!!!).

 

[brit]

Re: Post root canal

As an aside I prefer to wait to see that the rct has worked before doing a crown prep - don't believe in piling on the agony unnecessarily. For me this has always meant that the crown is no big deal as it is only done on a settled tooth. (2 experiences)

 

[carole]

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

I have had a rct done on a back tooth on the bottom, in one treatment before it had thawed out properly it hurt, which I expected, later that night after thaw, still painful still expected.
The day after it got worse and swelling appeared, as I got to the evening it was really painful, throbbing and warm salt water rinses made it worse and my mouth was on fire.
I got antibiotics the next day, I have been on these for 3 nearly 4 days now (5 day course) and all my other teeth are sensitive and hurting now. The swelling has gone down a lot and a lot of the pain has gone. My cheeks feel swollen and my gums on the side of the infection both top and bottom are very sore. I have a very painful bridge at the moment, an old one, on the same side as the infection but on the top. My teeth feel tight as if they are pushed together. My tongue is also very sore down one side.

What are the chances that this rct will be successful, I am a nhs patient so is it likely I will lose the rct tooth, and could it be possible that my bridge needs looking at.
I had an untreated abscess for 20 months before having treatment in Sept last year, a removed tooth and a rct on the abscessed tooth cleared that up. The problem is at the opposite side of my mouth.
Could the fact that I had the other abscess for so long be causing the problems I have now. I read somewhere that if a dental abscess is left untreated, you can get an abscess appear somewhere else in the body.

 

[letsconnect]

Re: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

I'm not a dentist but I think a small percentage of root canal treatments can result in a flare up that's more than just tenderness (like the pain and swelling you were experiencing). It sounds as if unfortunately you've got it worse than most. This doesn't mean that the treatment has failed. Antibiotics are the correct treatment at this stage.

I think it is a good sign that the practice manager who had a look at the x-rays thought the root canal treatment looked very good. I don't think he would have been saying that if it had looked like a shoddy job.

Hopefully things will settle down permanently!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, anyway

I don't know about the bridge, I think it would be very hard to speculate about that one over the internet.

The other abscess you had in the past wouldn't be causing the problems you have now. It is not true that you can get an abscess somewhere else in the body from that.

 

[carole]

Re: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

Thank you I knew to expect a bit of dis-comfort but this has been really bad, I was glad the top dentist I saw said it was a very good job and I was relieved.
At first it started to feel better but now it feels like things are getting worse. I don't usually read things or want to know about what can happen or go wrong because everything and everybody is different, but if there is a 1% chance of things happening I always seem to be the one.
I thought I had read about the abscess popping up somewhere else on the nhs website and I thought they would be trust worthy, I am finding out through other things as well maybe they not so much. Or it could just be me reading and getting the wrong end of the stick.

I see my dentist next week so I suppose I will find out then what state my mouth is in. I just felt a bit worried and down about the state of my mouth, because there isn't anything I can or could have done to stop these things happening. I attend a dentist every 6 months always have done except for a 5 year miss years ago. I have always brushed and looked after my teeth. So I am more fed up with the fact that even when you force yourself to go to the dentist and do everything you are supposed to do, these things still happen, and I don't understand why.

Thank you letsconnect

 

[drhirst]

Re: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

Hi Carole,

One does occasionally read suggestions that abscesses in the mouth can eventually cause abscesses in the brain which would have serious consequences. However, the chances of this happening are extremely remote.... even less that the dreaded 1% category that you always fall into! So relax this isn't happening to you.

Letsconnect's assessment of the the situation is spot on as usual. So we will have to keep our fingers crossed that the root canal settles down.

It is depressing when one dental problem follows on from another but hopefully this bad period will pass.

Best wishes

Lincoln

 

[carole]

Re: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

I just thought I would update this, so anybody that hasn't had a root canal need not worry, today right at this minute I feel very good no pain all the swelling has gone and my teeth have stopped aching now. Whewwwwwwwwww!! what a difference a day makes, thank goodness. My tongue doesn't feel too bad either. Gums under my bridge don't hurt either I've just realised, so I think now things will be fine, I have everything crossed that I carry on now as I feel right now and the dentist will sign me off.

So I am giving myself some of these

 

[Anxioustom]

Had a root canal done, in pain.

Hi guys,

Certainly getting over the fear of the dentist now having had another root canal done on Thursday. Now it's 2 days after the root canal and I'm getting a throbbing pain above the tooth I had the root canal done on...

Is this normal for after a root canal? The pain is persistant.

Cheers

 

[drhirst]

Re: Had a root canal done, in pain.

Hi,

It is not uncommon. It should subside over the next couple of days. Keep taking the pain killers. If you feel it is not improving get it checked out. Occasionally these situations need antibiotics to resolve them.

Hope things improve fast for you.

Lincoln

 

[carole]

Re: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RCT being a success

To catch up and bring this up to date. My mouth is wonderful no pain anywhere, not lumps or bumps on my gums. I go to the dentist on Wednesday for a review and that should be it until September when I should be having crowns on the two teeth I have had rct on, and a little false tooth for my gap.

The question now is would I have a rct done again on another tooth if I needed it ?

You bet I would, in a breath. Without hesitation.

Even if they don't take and I still end up loosing the teeth I would still do it, it is a gamble and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work, but I would take the chance again.

 

[Ellie721]

Root canal fail?!! Please help!!!

Hello,

I had a really nasty irreversible pulpitis/possible infection for 6 weeks in tooth #31 due to a deep gumline filling. My dentist did part of a root canal to stabilize the tooth on June 20th (5 days ago), he drilled it, removed nerve/infection, and filled it with medicine and put in a temp filling and told me to come back in a couple months for him to finish it and hopefully this calms the pain down in the meantime. I will say that the terrible pain I was in before this that I was having that radiated through my jaw and into my neck/ear is gone.

Well, I have a lot of tenderness and pain when I chew on that tooth (yes he told me not to chew on it for at least a week) but sometimes that is hard and food gets back to that area of my mouth, but I am also having some sensitivity to cold or hot fluids (not anything like I was prior). Did it fail? It is normal to still have minor/slight sensitivity to temperatures AND tenderness/pain when chewing this soon after a partial root canal?

I have gone back to the dentist so much due to my anxiety issues and bite issues (my TMJ is horrible on the other side with all the stress I'm going through) so I am really embarrassed to call my dentist and ask-- I am sure he is sick of me.

Please help, I am panicking that it failed.

 

[drhirst]

Re: Root canal fail?!! Please help!!!

Hi Ellie721
It can take a while for these things to settle so I would not worry too much. The treatment has not failed because it has not been completed yet. If things are getting more tender rather than less, then I would let your dentist know, as he or she may want to bring forward you appointment to finish the treatment.
Best of luck

Lincoln

Hello,

I had a really nasty irreversible pulpitis/possible infection for 6 weeks in tooth #31 due to a deep gumline filling. My dentist did part of a root canal to stabilize the tooth on June 20th (5 days ago), he drilled it, removed nerve/infection, and filled it with medicine and put in a temp filling and told me to come back in a couple months for him to finish it and hopefully this calms the pain down in the meantime. I will say that the terrible pain I was in before this that I was having that radiated through my jaw and into my neck/ear is gone.

Well, I have a lot of tenderness and pain when I chew on that tooth (yes he told me not to chew on it for at least a week) but sometimes that is hard and food gets back to that area of my mouth, but I am also having some sensitivity to cold or hot fluids (not anything like I was prior). Did it fail? It is normal to still have minor/slight sensitivity to temperatures AND tenderness/pain when chewing this soon after a partial root canal?

I have gone back to the dentist so much due to my anxiety issues and bite issues (my TMJ is horrible on the other side with all the stress I'm going through) so I am really embarrassed to call my dentist and ask-- I am sure he is sick of me.

Please help, I am panicking that it failed.