Symptoms of needing root canals
If you experience prolonged pain from cold or hot water, lasting several minutes, you should suspect inflammation of the nerve in the tooth. The pain can increase gradually, occur after a filling is placed, or with severe tooth decay due to a cold, decreased immunity, stress, or hypothermia. If pain occurs when food hits a certain tooth, when you press on it or tap it with a spoon, then you can assume inflammation of the apical tissues around the root - periodontitis. Cleaning the canals, treating them with medication and filling them is necessary to prevent the spread of inflammation to neighboring areas. In severe cases, complications such as periostitis, osteomyelitis, abscess or phlegmon develop, the latter is treated in a hospital. If the nerve or gangrenous tissue from a tooth is not removed in time, the risk of losing the tooth itself increases over time.
How much does a temporary filling with arsenic cost?
The period for which a temporary filling with arsenic can be left in a tooth depends on various circumstances - the age of the patient, the condition of his teeth, as well as the means used by the dentist to kill the pulp. When setting the time frame, the option of placing the drug is also taken into account - on an unopened pulp chamber or directly on the exposed pulp.
Typically, a temporary filling with arsenic remains in the tooth for a day, but when treating multi-channel chewing teeth, this period can be increased to two days. When treating baby teeth with formed roots, this time is reduced to 18 and 24 hours, respectively. And if the latest generation of arsenic preparations are used, they can be left in the tooth for up to five days.
If you have been given a temporary filling with arsenic, you must strictly adhere to the deadlines and come to replace it at the time specified by the doctor. Prolonged residence of the drug in the tooth leads to the penetration of arsenic into neighboring tissues and its accumulation there, which can ultimately provoke periodontal inflammation.
Pain after nerve removal and root canal treatment
One of the most common misconceptions among patients is that a tooth without a nerve cannot hurt. In principle, there is truth in this. But it's not that simple. Nerve fibers exit the tooth through the apical foramen in the root and unite into common trunks, thicker and more powerful. Such a trunk may be responsible for the sensitivity of the entire half of the jaw or face. This explains the irradiation (passage) of pain along the entire nerve if the inflammation affects only one tooth. The impulse is transmitted through nerve fibers to neighboring areas - ear, temple, eye, eyelid, forehead, etc. When a nerve is removed (tooth depulpation), it is simply torn off from the main trunk, causing inevitable injury to the tissues. Canal cleaning takes place under anesthesia and the patient does not feel the moment the instrument exits through the tooth. Without proper control over this procedure, a hematoma (local hemorrhage) may form in the area of the apex of the tooth root, which will cause pain when pressing on the tooth or clenching the jaws. A feeling of mild pain in a pulpless tooth is acceptable for 1–2 days. As a rule, with high-quality cleaning of the contents of the tooth cavity, there is no painful reaction from temperature stimuli (cold or hot water), no severe throbbing or aching pain. If the doctor removed the nerve from the tooth, treated the canals and left a turunda with an antiseptic in them, the tooth should not hurt. If, some time after treatment, the patient notices severe pain, which intensifies in the evening or at night, it is necessary to re-clean and rinse the root canals. This needs to be done as quickly as possible; you should not endure the pain or relieve it with medications. Short-term help can be provided by painkillers: Pentalgin, Ketanov, Tempalgin and others.
The occurrence of throbbing pain from hot water after root canal filling
Treatment of tooth canals involves not only treating, cleaning and drying them, but also filling them with special filling materials. As a rule, pastes for these purposes are used with or without anti-inflammatory additives. Filling the canals is necessary in order to eliminate the possibility of creating conditions for the growth of bacteria. When the tooth cavity is densely filled with gutta-percha pins and paste, there are no such conditions. If some of the infected tissue gets behind the root apex during canal treatment, the inflammation spreads to the bone. Pain in the tooth appears almost immediately after root canal treatment or during the first days and has a certain character: pulsating, twitching, shooting, aggravated by heat. In order to eliminate such a complication, it is necessary to carefully treat the tooth canals using the correct technique. If such pain occurs, it is necessary to re-treat the canals; a short-term effect is achieved by taking painkillers with an anti-inflammatory effect: Nise, Ibuprofen. In some cases, rinsing the mouth with a warm soda solution (1 teaspoon of salt and soda per glass of water) has a positive effect.
What can happen after installing a temporary filling?
In some cases, patients experience pain after placing temporary filling material into the tooth cavity. Mild pain during the first 5 days after the intervention is considered normal. If pain intensifies, you should immediately consult a doctor. Violation of this rule can lead to the development of various diseases and tooth loss.
It is normal to have a smell or taste of medication in the mouth after the procedure. The sudden appearance of a strong smell or taste of medicines indicates depressurization of the filling and leaching of medicines with saliva from the tooth cavity. Some drugs, if they enter the oral cavity, can have a negative effect on the human body. If such signs appear, you should immediately contact a specialist.
Swelling of the gums, darkening of tooth enamel, and the appearance of bad breath indicate the development of diseases. If symptoms appear, you should contact your dentist immediately. The doctor will remove the filling material and carry out diagnostic measures. You may need to contact your dentist if the filling breaks. Failure to visit a specialist in a timely manner will result in food particles and bacteria entering the tooth cavity.
Pain in the tooth after canal treatment, if there is a focus of inflammation in the bone
If a patient comes in with pain that intensifies when food hits the tooth, with a feeling of internal pressure from inside the tooth, almost always in such cases there is inflammation in the bone or around the root. This situation occurs when the nerve is destroyed, rots and the entire infection comes out of the tooth into the bone, forming an inflammatory focus - a cyst or granuloma. Treatment in this case is quite complicated, and the tooth cannot always be saved. If the doctor believes that there is a chance to cure the inflammation, he treats the root canals and leaves turunda with an anti-inflammatory solution or medicinal paste in them under a temporary filling for 1–2 weeks, after which he fills the canals with permanent hardening materials. In some cases, the pain does not go away immediately. Therapeutic agents gradually take effect, so the first few days after treatment the tooth may hurt. As a rule, in such cases, additional treatment is prescribed in the form of anti-inflammatory tablets (Nise, Ibuprofen), antibiotics (Amoxiclav, Lincomycin) or antimicrobial agents (Trichopol). Rinsing with warm soda solution helps relieve pain.
There is no need to be afraid of root canal treatment and nerve removal. Modern pain relievers will effectively help you carry out the entire procedure without any pain. Mechanical preparation of hard tissues, cleaning of the tooth cavity, treatment and filling of root canals are necessary procedures, but they should be carried out in compliance with all the rules. High-quality root canal treatment is the key to tooth preservation.
Why is temporary filling needed?
The need to use filling material is determined by the dentist. The installation of a temporary filling is prescribed by a doctor in the following cases:
- Carrying out diagnostics. When treating a patient with deep caries, a specialist is not always able to determine the extent of tissue damage. The doctor cleans the tooth cavity and places filling material. If the neurovascular bundle is not inflamed, then after the procedure the person will not experience pain. If the dental nerve and surrounding tissues are damaged, preliminary treatment will be required.
- Removal of the neurovascular bundle. In some cases, nerve sacrifice is required before removal. To do this, the dentist puts a specialized paste into the tooth cavity. After a certain period of time, the specialist removes the pulp and fills the tooth cavity with permanent filling material.
- Dental prosthetics. The dentist prepares teeth for prosthetics. To ensure that the root canals are protected from food and pathogenic bacteria during manufacturing, the specialist places a temporary filling material into the tooth cavity.
- Treatment of diseases. After treatment, the dentist places medications into the tooth cavity. After a certain period of time, the specialist removes the temporary filling and installs a permanent filling.
A tooth hurts under an old filling: when do you need help from a dentist?
If the pain does not subside, you cannot do without a visit to the clinic. To make a correct diagnosis, the dentist needs to know all the symptoms associated with pain. The further method of treatment depends on the condition of the teeth and adjacent tissues. As a rule, the previous filling is removed, treated with antiseptics, and the canals are cleaned and sealed again.
After dental surgery, it is imperative to follow the doctor’s recommendations. They speed up the healing process and prevent new inflammations from developing. After applying the filling, it is not recommended to drink alcoholic beverages or excessively hot or cold food. Avoid sweets and solid foods. For the first two days, it is recommended to eat only soft foods and rinse your mouth after eating. Chew on the opposite side of the filled tooth for three days. You should brush your teeth gently and without pressure.
Even if the pain was there but has subsided, you should not postpone your visit to the clinic. Inflammatory processes may continue, and the pain will certainly return with even greater force.
Causes of pain under a filling
There are several reasons why a tooth under a filling may hurt:
- Incomplete pulp removal. This can happen if an x-ray was not taken before treating the tooth. A tooth may have its own structural features: thin winding canals, the presence of additional canals. Without radiography, it is impossible to carry out high-quality canal treatment. Remaining areas of pulp will certainly lead to pain.
- Burn of dental tissues. During tooth preparation, the dental bur heats up. If the dentist does not cool the tissue frequently, you can get burned.
- Incorrect technique for drying the prepared cavity. Violation of the technique leads to insufficient adhesion of the filling to the dental cavity. Bacteria penetrate inside and cause inflammation.
- Entry of a foreign body into the root canal. This could be a piece of a canal cleaning tool or particles of dentin (hard tooth tissue) formed during drilling.
- High filling. When a tooth comes into contact with an opposing tooth on the opposite jaw, pain occurs due to too much pressure.
These reasons apply to cases where a tooth that was filled very recently hurts.
Sometimes patients go to the dentist complaining of pain in teeth that were filled several months or years ago. Probable reasons for this:
- Secondary caries. It develops due to the penetration of bacteria under the old filling due to its shrinkage or mechanical damage. A hidden inflammatory process begins, affecting the nerve (if it has not been removed before and the filling was installed due to caries).
- Periodontitis. If the nerve has already been removed previously, then it is not the cause of the pain. It is possible that periodontitis has developed - inflammation of the periodontium (the connective tissue surrounding the tooth). Periodontitis occurs due to the penetration of bacteria into the periodontal ligaments or mechanical trauma to the tooth (bruise, blow, sharp biting).
In all the described cases, one cannot hope that the pain will go away on its own. If the inflammatory process has already begun, it will spread more and more. You can lose a tooth due to neglect of your health
