Should You Expect Pain After A Root Canal?

Your dentist’s best advice and information after this procedure

Dental pain before, during, and after dental procedures is one of the more common reasons why people avoid the dentists. And this goes double for root canals, because they’re one of the most feared dental procedures out there. But there’s no reason for this, because dental procedures have improved a lot over the years.

In short, it isn’t uncommon for patients to experience pain post-procedure. It can take several days for ongoing and new pain to subside. It is important to remember that root canal treatment is invasive and requires time to heal. We encourage all of our patients to keep our phone number handy and keep in touch post-procedure so that we can provide ongoing advice and reassurance.

If you have a root canal and experience pain afterwards, here’s why and what to do about it.

1.     Inflammation

When you have a root canal, it’s usually because of decay that has caused infection in the pulp of a tooth. Your dentist will remove the infected pulp and clear away the cause of the pain and inflammation. But if the infection has spread to the gums or surrounding tissue, it will still take time before the swelling around the tooth subsides. The procedure itself may also cause some inflammation. Just make sure you follow your dentist’s instructions about taking anti-inflammatory medications after your procedure and the pain should ease in a few days.

 2.     Too Large Fillings

When the pulp is scooped out of your infected tooth, your dentist will fill it with a rubber like material. If too much is used it will cause pain every time you bite. Fortunately, this is a simple problem to fix. Your dentist will just need to adjust the filling.

 3.     Surrounding Tissue Damage

Your dentist performs root canals all the time, and chances are that everything will go as normal. However, there’s always a chance that the surrounding tissue will be damaged by the procedure. This can occur in a variety of ways. The file used to clean the tooth can slip and poke into the tissue below, the bacteria can escape into surrounding tissue, or the filling can overflow. In all these cases you will just need time for the tissue to heal and then the pain will vanish.  

4.     Infection

5.     Follow Pre-op Instructions

Your dentist will give you a list of instructions to follow in the hours leading up to your surgery. Make sure that you follow them to avoid problems during or after your treatment. Here are some instructions your dentist will give you:

• Don’t eat or drink for between 6-12 hours before the surgery.

• You mustn’t drive for 24 hours after, so make sure that someone is coming to pick you up afterwards.

• If you’re anxious before your surgery, then let the dentist know because they have treatment options that can help.

• Get plenty of rest in the week after your surgery.

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Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:

Pain following root canal treatment can occur and is not an indication of a failed treatment. Give your mouth time to heal and keep in touch with your dentist for advice and reassurance.

Do Redheads Experience Less Pain?

And how this could affect your dental appointments

Could the colour of your hair affect how much you feel pain? There have been a lot of rumours going around about the idea that redheads don’t feel pain as much as other people. This might sound like a ridiculous idea, after all how can hair colour affect your nerves? But there is actually some evidence to support it.

 About Red Hair

Red is the rarest hair colour and occurs in less than 2 percent of the world’s population. To have a child with red hair, both parents need to pass on a specific, recessive gene trait. This trait causes mutations in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), which is responsible for producing skin pigment melanin. This gene contributes to eye colour, hair colour, and skin tone, which is why so many redheads have very pale skin.

 But the differences that come along with being a redhead may be deeper than the skin. Evidence suggests that there’s also a significant different in how they experience and respond to pain.

More Pain, Less Analgesics

Contrary to general opinion, redheads don’t feel less pain. In fact, the opposite may be true. The MC1R gene which causes red hair also has receptors in the midbrain where pain perception is regulated. And this may indicate that the gene could influence how people respond to pain and injury. Studies that explore this link have found conflicting results. Here are just some of the conclusions of these studies:  

• To sedate them, you need 20 percent more anaesthesia.

• Redheads may be able to tolerate 25 percent more pain than other people.  

• They need lower doses of pain killing analgesics.

• They also need more topical anaesthetics, which explains why many redheads have a fear of dental pain and avoid dentists.

These results are contradictory. They indicate that redheads both feel more pain and less, that they’re more tolerant to pain and feel it more intensely. Further research is needed before the true extent of the link between hair colour and pain tolerance is clear. However, what comes out of these studies is the simple fact that hair colour can indicate a different way of processing and experiencing pain. And this means that dentists need to take an individual approach when managing the pain of dental treatments.

 Proactive Pain Management

If you have red hair, then what can you do? Should you just avoid the dentist because you might have trouble coping with the pain? Obviously, this isn’t a helpful strategy and it could lead to more pain and trips to your after hours dentist in the long term. A better idea is to be proactive about pain during your regular dental appointments. Here are some ideas for how to do that:

• Make sure that your dentist is aware that you might react different to pain and painkillers than other patients.

•   If you need anaesthesia for a dental treatment, address the issue before the procedure and let your dentist know that you might need more or be more sensitive to it.

•  Be wary of taking prescription medications, particularly opioids.

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Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:

If you have a dental emergency, contact our Emergency Dentist in Sydney. Our caring and expert staff are available 24 hours a day to help you with all your emergency dental needs.