Does A Root Canal Hurt? Is It Painful Or Not?

Tooth care
Written by Rashmi
December 19, 2022

Is it your first time for a Root canal? And feeling nervous about the procedure? Our mouth and facial areas are sensitive areas. Queries like does a root canal hurt? It should come to your mind. Root canals are a part of dental treatment. When your dental cavity spreads through your teeth root and clogs the areas, your dentist will suggest you go through a root canal procedure.

Contents

What Is A Root Canal?

Before jumping into the topic of does a root canal hurt. Let’s see first what the root canal procedure is.

The dental root canal treatment’s target is to eliminate the bacteria from the infected root canal. And save the natural tooth. It will prevent reinfections of the tooth and also save the natural look of the tooth.

Here are the steps which are followed under the root canal procedures.

Step 1: Tooth Preparations For The Procedure.

Step 2: Drill Up The Infected Areas Of The Tooth.

Step 3: Use The Smaller And Finer Driller To Remove The Infected Pulp From The Root Of The Infected Teeth.

Step 4: Fill Up The Teeth With Tooth-Filling Materials And Seal The Root.

Step 5: Apply a Full Ceramic or Metal-Ceramic Crown On The Top Of The Teeth.

Your whole procedure is complete, and you have finally protected your cavity teeth.

Do Root Canals Hurt?

Before going for the procedure, often patient’s ask about how bad a root canal hurts. For many patients going through any tooth procedure like tooth extractions, even a tooth filling is a very uncomfortable and full of fear experience.

There is a very satisfactory answer to why a root canal hurt. No root canal treatments are targeted to eliminate the infected pulp from the tooth. And during the process of cleaning needs to be deep-rooted. There is always a chance of tooth nerve touch.

We all know tooth nerve touching is seriously painful. But you will not feel anything. Guess why? You will be under local anaesthesia. Yes, your whole gum area will be numb. So you don’t feel anything.

The only difference with the regular filling is during the root canal procedure, the deep-rooted cleaning undergoes. But with filling, only surface areas of the tooth are getting cleaned off and filled up.

Root Canal Recovery Tips

Most of the patients are thinking about how long it takes to recover from a root canal. Recovery time is less than a week. After the procedure, your dentist is going to prescribe you some antibiotic medications. These medications are for fastening the healing process.

Here are some of the easy tips which you can follow to fast recovery from the root canal procedure.

Avoid any hard food and cold drinks or ice cream.
Luke warm water mouthwash with doctor-prescribed antiseptic medicines.
Eat easy digestive and soft foods like soup and broth.
Take the countertop painkillers and medications.
Follow the doctor’s prescribed medicines.
And ask for help if you are facing any trouble due to tooth pain after the process.

These are the easy few root canal recovery tips. If you are following different recovery techniques, then you are welcome to share your opinion through the comment sections.

During the procedure, your tooth and gum areas are numbed, so you will not feel anything during the whole process. But as dentists are taking the infected dental from your tooth.

The infected parts are also linked to the blood vessels and nerve tissues. After taking out the pulp, sometimes the patient experiences tooth pain after the procedure.

If you are having queries like does a root canal hurt. The answer is simple: maybe the procedure is not as painful, but after the procedure, patients can experience sensitive tooth issues.

What Might Be The Causes Of Pain After A Root Canal?

Hope you are getting an answer to why a root canal hurts. But sometimes, patients experience immense pain several years after their root canal procedure. So why does a root canal hurt?

Here are some of the causes of pain after a root canal procedure.

1. Spreading The Infection In Bone

This happens when even after the infected pulp removal, small infections remain in the tooth bone. After years these infections are slowly starting to spread in the tooth bone areas. As a result, it causes pain. Many of the patients are having queries like, does a root canal hurt after one year? Yes, if the infection remains in the bone areas, it can cause pain even after a long time of the procedure.

2. Infected Root Canal

Yes, even after the root canal, there is a chance of infection in the tooth. This can happen when the filling is going to leak, and bacteria are slowly travelling through saliva around the edges of the filling. Bacteria can create an infection that causes pain. The signs of infection after root canal is tooth pain, swelling, and inflammation.

3. Cement And Air Is Forced Through The Tooth Tip

If your root canal is overfilled, the root canal with tooth cement. Often the materials start to flow out from the root tip. When the filling material touches the tooth root, the painful sensations start to spread.

4. Oversize Crown

The oversized crown also causes pain in the tooth when it hits the opposite tooth with extra force compared to the previous teeth or minimises the gaps. Which also causes pain after root canal treatment.

5. Leakages Of Sodium Hypochlorite

Does a root canal hurt during the cleaning process? Yes, sodium hypochlorite leakages are one of these types of reasons. During the root canal treatment, the dentist uses sodium hypochlorite as a tooth disinfectant. The purpose of these solutions is to kill the bacteria. If the solution is going to leak out of the root tip, it causes immediate pain.

6. Missing Tooth Canal

Teeth can have several canals. Some of them are difficult to detect. It is possible a dentist may overlook the infected canal unintentionally. And missed the infected canal. It means leaving the nerve inside the tooth and another small pocket for infections forming bacteria.

Frequently Asked Questions By The Patients Who Are Going Under The Root Canal Treatment:

Q1: How Hurting Is Root Canal Treatment?

Ans: As you are already under local anesthesia, you will not feel anything during the treatment.

Q2: How Long Does A Root Canal Procedure Take?

Ans: The procedure time is entirely depending on the type of infection your tooth is having. On average, the canal takes only 30 to 60 minutes to complete the procedure. The maximum time limit is one hour. And the minimum time is half an hour.

Q3: How Long Does Your Root Canal Last Without A Crown?

Ans: Without the crown, 98% of the root canal can only last a year. 92% of the root canal only lasts five years. The crown keeps the filling of the teeth intact.

Bottom Line: Root Canal Treatment Is A Painless Procedure

I hope you get the answer to ‘does a root canal hurt. During the procedure, you will be under local anesthesia, so you don’t feel anything. Even when dentists are going to push the anesthetics into your gum, they use numbing cream. So even your anesthesia process will also go painless. How are your root canal experiences? You can share your experiences through the comment sections.

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