Describe Root Canal Pain

Video Transcript

"When assessing whether or not a patient needs a root canal, there are many different things that a dentist will evaluate to ensure that that is the right prescribed treatment. There are certain symptoms that a patient will present with that will definitely insure that a root canal would be necessary. Some of the symptoms that we typically see would be a hot or cold sensitivity that lingers. It can be a biting sensitivity, or a gum tenderness, or a throbbing pain that sporadically occurs and goes away and then comes back. If someone describes that they had a sensitivity that kept them all night, and they couldn't sleep, or even a biting sensitivity that kind of comes and goes, but never really goes away. These are typically symptoms that a dentist will evaluate to diagnose some sort of infection within the tooth and prescribe a root canal for that tooth. If a dentist has prescribed a root canal treatment, what they do, they will basically go in and numb the tooth and go in and remove the infection as well as the nerve on the tooth. That, essentially, is what a root canal is. It's removing the nerve and the tooth that's infected, as well as the infection within the tooth. They are typically very comfortable procedures, based on the amount of infection that's present, and based on the existing pain level when you go in. Typically, what to expect afterwards is some dull, achy pain. Maybe a little bit of biting sensitivity. All cold sensitivity will completely resolve once the root canal's been completed. It's very important to understand that when you have a root canal, again, you are removing the nerve out of the tooth. When you do that, you lose the ability to sense hot and cold. You can still sense biting pressure and biting sensitivity, but cold and hot will go away completely following a root canal. It is because of this that most...most of the time after a root canal, it is a very comfortable procedure, and afterwards, a couple days of soreness would be the most that one would expect. It's because of this that we will typically, you know, prescribe a pain medication, or some sort of over-the-counter medication like an ibuprofen or a Tylenol, to help with any sort of residual pain or soreness. We typically find that within about one week that most pain that originated from the tooth that had the root canal will resolve completely."