During endodontic treatment, a person may encounter a situation when the tooth hurts after cleaning the canal. Not knowing the intricacies of the procedure, this fact seems surprising. After all, how can a tooth bother after removing a nerve?
That is why we will talk about the treatment of pulpitis, consider the causes of pain and, most importantly, tell you how to alleviate the condition in such cases.
When to clean the canals
In dental practice, endodontic treatment of a dental unit is carried out both for the purpose of subsequent restoration of the crown part with filling materials, and in preparation for prosthetics. Let us consider in detail when cleaning the channels is required.
- With the transition of caries into pulpitis. The lack of timely treatment leads to the fact that the infection affects the nerve of the tooth. In this case, the root canals must be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and hermetically filled with special material.
- When preparing a dental unit for prosthetics. Previously, nerve removal was mandatory. In modern dentistry, depulpation is performed only when necessary, if it is planned to install certain types of orthodontic structures.
- With periodontitis (infection affects tissues outside the root), cleaning of the canals is required. As a rule, this occurs with units undergoing earlier depulpation, during which errors were made.
- With injuries that entailed significant destruction of the coronal part and exposure of the nerve.
All these situations require cleaning the channels. Therefore, the procedure in dentistry is quite common. Almost every person at least once in a lifetime encounters it.
Channel cleaning procedure
In order to understand whether a tooth should hurt after cleaning the canals, you need to know how the procedure is performed. Consider a treatment algorithm.
- The doctor applies anesthesia in the area of a diseased tooth, since canal cleaning is quite painful.
- Then it dissects the affected tissue, forming a cavity.
- The tooth chamber is opened.
- The nerve is removed by the devital or vital method. The choice of method depends on the location of the tooth and the degree of its destruction.
- Infected tissues are carefully removed from the canals.
- The cavities are treated with antiseptic solutions, etched to improve the adhesion of the filling material with living tissues.
- The channels are hermetically filled with a special paste.
- Then, with the filling material, the doctor restores the anatomical shape of the tooth.
Endodontic treatment is a complex process that requires a doctor of high qualification and accuracy. Nerve removal is performed almost blindly. The dentist has to work with a part of the tooth that is not visible. The channel is hidden inside the unit, it is impossible to look into it with the naked eye.
Only recently, in dentistry, they began to use special equipment that allows you to control the cleaning process and filling the root cavity with filling material.
Can a tooth hurt after cleaning the canals?
Having discomfort after removing a nerve, a person does not always understand whether this is normal. In fact, pain after endodontic treatment occurs almost always. You just need to learn to distinguish when discomfort is normal, and when the intervention of a doctor is required.
Most often, the tooth hurts after cleaning the canals and filling because of the mechanical effect on the soft tissue of the gums during the procedure. However, it should not be too intense. The normal response of the body to the intervention is considered moderate aching pain, subsiding every day. Or there is a feeling of bursting in the area of the processed unit.
When a tooth hurts after cleaning the canals with pressure on it, there may be several reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, it is a gum tissue injury. Secondly, discomfort occurs due to poor-quality processing channels. Thirdly, the patient develops an allergic reaction to the filling material.
If the tooth hurts after cleaning the canal, you should pay attention to whether there are additional symptoms of inflammation. If redness of the gums, swelling of the tissues around the unit, discomfort or itching, you should immediately contact your dentist.
Next, we consider in detail why the tooth hurts after cleaning the canals.
Filling material falls outside the root
Not so long ago, treatment of chronic pulpitis, periodontitis was carried out somewhat differently. Excretion of filling material was considered the right approach. Now, experts are trying not to do this. In most cases, the tooth hurts after cleaning the canal precisely because of the removal of the filling material at the top of the root.
A similar mistake of a doctor during treatment is allowed for several reasons:
- insufficient equipment of the dental office with modern equipment;
- if the channel length was determined incorrectly;
- the use of a mechanical device to fill prepared holes at high speeds;
- violation in the processing of the canal (lack of an apical ledge);
- resorption of the apex of the root, formed under the prolonged influence of the inflammatory process.
For whatever reason, the material may not be moved beyond the stabilization system of the unit, this always provokes post-filling pain. Most often, concomitant symptoms are an increase in body temperature, swelling of the gums around the tooth.
Incorrectly sealed channel
Unlike the reasons considered earlier, pain in this case does not occur immediately. If the channel is not completely filled with paste, bacteria will multiply in its voids over time, causing inflammation.
Discomfort begins to bother the patient after a few months or even years. Most often, people complain that the tooth hurts after cleaning the canals when pressing or biting solid food.
Incorrect treatment is dangerous because for a long time a person does not realize that an infectious focus is ripening inside the body. If the error is eliminated in a short time, then the pain quickly passes. When a patient lives with such a tooth for a long time, a granuloma or cyst forms at the root apex. These formations require a separate treatment, possibly even a surgical method.
Part of the tool breaks off at the root
A toothache after treatment can be caused by a fracture of the endodontic instrument during canal cleaning. If the doctor does not remove this part, but simply closes the cavity, then after some time or immediately after the anesthesia ceases to act, the patient will experience discomfort.
If a piece of the instrument remains in the canal, then the doctor cannot completely remove the nerve. Rinse with antiseptic solutions also does not work. As a result of such endodontic treatment, the root will either remain sensitive, or inflammation will develop over time. The infectious focus will signal itself not only with pain, but also with edema, fever.
Root perforation
Dentists often make this mistake, even in modern clinics. Everything is explained by the replacement of hand tools by mechanical equipment. Without sufficient experience, using a rotating tip when cleaning the canals, the doctor can violate the integrity of the wall.
Usually at this moment, the patient even after anesthesia feels a pain resembling an injection in the gum. In this case, the tooth begins to bleed heavily.
When root perforation, the doctor must "patch" the hole with a special, calcium-containing paste. If you do not carry out these manipulations, the tooth will be very sore after the anesthesia ceases to act.
Allergic reaction
If the tooth hurts after cleaning the canal, then the reaction to the filling material may be the reason for this. Recently, many allergic patients are found among patients. Therefore, the reaction to the paste is recorded quite often.
With the development of an allergy to filling material, a person experiences pain almost immediately after the termination of the action of anesthesia. Often it cannot be stopped by taking medication.
Concomitant symptoms are swelling of the gums in the area of the treated unit. In severe cases, it spreads to the cheek and neck. The reaction may be accompanied by itching of the soft tissues.
How long does the tooth hurt after cleaning the canals?
Knowing the timing within which discomfort after endodontic treatment is considered normal, you can seek help in time if something goes wrong. How long do my teeth hurt after cleaning the canals? The answer depends on the clinical picture, the presence of complications before going to the doctor, patient sensitivity.
On average, pain should go away in a few days. In this case, it will become less intense. If on the fourth day it does not go away, and the patient is worried more and more every day, you should immediately contact your doctor.
Painkillers
It is advisable to take medicines for toothache only in the first 3-4 days after the procedure. They will help relieve discomfort after anesthesia ceases to function. Typically, dentists recommend drinking the following drugs:
- Ketanov.
- "Dicofenac."
- Nise.
- "Baralgin."
- "Spasmolgon."
- Ibuprofen.
In inflammatory processes, in some cases, after endodontic treatment, antibiotics are prescribed. This is necessary to stop the development of infection. Accordingly, the patient leaves the acute state after treatment much faster and easier. Such drugs include Augmentin, Flemoxin, Cifran, Linkomycin.
Antibacterial drugs should be taken only on the recommendation of a doctor, observing the dosage and duration of therapy. You can not stop treatment prematurely, even if the patient feels healthy.
Rinse
When a tooth hurts after cleaning the canal, solutions for rinsing the oral cavity will help to relieve the condition. The easiest option is to prepare the product yourself.
It is necessary to dissolve 1 teaspoon of soda and salt in a glass of boiled water. Rinses are performed up to 8 times a day. They will help relieve swelling of injured gum tissue, relieve pain, and prevent the development of inflammation.
The rinse solution can be purchased ready-made. In dentistry, the drugs "Rotokan", "Chlorhexidine", "Chlorophyllipt" are usually used. The finished product is diluted in warm, boiled water immediately before rinsing the oral cavity.
Folk remedies for toothache
Consider some of the most effective recipes to relieve discomfort after endodontic treatment.
Strong green tea supplemented with garlic helps to relieve pain very quickly. Also, its use prevents the development of inflammation. For its preparation, 5 cloves of garlic are crushed. In a glass of water brew 1 tablespoon of tea. After 10 minutes, garlic is introduced into it and left for another 10-15 minutes.
Use such a rinse medicine. A few minutes after the procedure, the person experiences relief. You can repeat rinsing up to 8 times a day.
Another way to quickly get rid of tooth pain after treatment is to use lotions from Valerian infusion. You can use a ready-made tool for alcohol. To anesthetize a tooth, a few drops of valerian tincture are placed on a cotton swab. Then for 5 minutes it is applied to the gum near the treated unit. Repeat the procedure 5-6 times a day.
Doctor's recommendations
When a tooth nerve hurts, after cleaning the canals, the dentist gives some tips that must be strictly observed. His recommendations are aimed at eliminating the development of inflammation, complications after treatment and the speedy rehabilitation of the patient.
- After removing the nerve, you should not eat for 3 hours.
- For the first time, physical activity is prohibited for 2 days.
- The patient should monitor the oral hygiene: brush your teeth at least 2 times a day, use flosses, antiseptic rinses.
- In the first 3 days, you need to be careful about changes in well-being. If the pain does not go away or, on the contrary, intensifies, then you can not self-medicate. The faster the patient goes to the dentist, the easier it will be to fix the problem.
In conclusion, it remains to draw attention to the fact that careful care of the oral cavity and preventive examination once every six months minimizes the risk of pulpitis or other diseases that require removal of the nerve.