Why does a Tooth Hurts After Cleaning and canal filling? Pain syndrome in most cases is considered a normal phenomenon, which quickly passes and does not entail negative consequences. Sometimes, due to the carelessness of the doctor, the process of shrinkage of the filling, due to the ingress of a foreign body into the hole, and other reasons, pain can persist for a very long time, until the provoking factors are completely eliminated.
Non-pathological pain can be managed independently at home. For this purpose, pharmaceutical preparations and folk remedies are used. Before using any formulations (both pharmaceutical and herbal), be sure to consult your doctor.
Why clean and seal channels
As you know, caries in the early and late stages differ in the depth of the lesion, where at first a small dark spot is visible on the surface of the crown, and then it grows very deep into the tissues. For this reason, therapeutic tactics depend on the area of the various area. Sometimes it is enough for the dentist to remove the destroyed part of the tooth, apply a special composition and seal the resulting hole. In such a situation, one session is enough, the procedure will take little time, and pain relief may not be required.
When the pathology reaches the pulp, it is impossible to avoid the removal of nerves and subsequent cleaning of the canals, their treatment with an antiseptic, filling with composites, as well as the installation of filling material or orthopedic structures. Before proceeding to the final stage of recovery, it is necessary to eliminate the inflammatory process. If you make mistakes during medical intervention or do not follow the processing technology, the inflammation will return very quickly, and discomfort will appear.
When pain is normal
Discomfort after dental procedures does not always indicate that the doctor did something wrong. In itself, such an intervention is quite painful, so local anesthesia is necessarily used. The patient during the session does not feel the unpleasant effects of the instruments. When the effect of the anesthetic drug wears off, pain occurs.
Also, cement can lead to this. As it solidifies, it undergoes compression and acts on the coronal part. In what cases you should not sound the alarm:
- After treatment, filling the canals, the tooth hurts when pressed, as well as when eating too cold, hot, sour, spicy, or sweet foods and liquids;
- The pain disappears when the irritating factor is eliminated;
- Discomfort persists for up to 5 days, but no more, it becomes easier every day;
- There are no other suspicious symptoms.
If the treatment was difficult due to the severity of the course of the pathological process, soreness can be felt for up to 2 weeks. This must be reported to the dentist. Most likely, the patient will need a second visit to the clinic to rule out complications.
Why do sealed tooth canals hurt?
Common pathological and non-pathological factors that lead to unpleasant symptoms:
- Violation of the technological process. This includes overdrying or under-drying the dentinal cavity, and burns with a polymerization lamp.
- Poor-quality filling (when the composite material has not completely filled the voids, the cement goes beyond the contours of the crown part, the root is perforated, and there is a foreign object).
- Allergy to any of the components of the formulations used.
- Patient’s bite problems.
- Seal depressurization. When one edge has moved away or a small fragment has broken off.
- There were complications after treatment. For example, caries appeared again, a nerve became inflamed, and a cystic neoplasm formed.
Overdrying (under-drying) of dentin
When the blackened carious tissues are eliminated, the hole is treated with a special solution, which should be absorbed in the dentin layer and ensure high-quality adhesion to the filling material. It is necessary to dry the surface beforehand since saliva will interfere with the action of the applied composition.
With insufficient drying, the filling is weakly held, and the risk of its depressurization and mechanical damage when chewing food increases significantly. Pathogenic microorganisms can penetrate inside, which will provoke repeated caries.
Overdried tissues do not adapt to the cement composition. The fact is that the processes occurring in them in this case slow down or completely stop.
Lamp burn
Can a tooth hurt after filling (filling) the canals with a light-cured filling? This is possible if overheating of hard tissues occurred during its application. Under the influence of high temperatures, incisors, canines, and molars are sometimes injured and destroyed.
Perforation
Before filling the unit, the doctor cleans the resulting tubules with special needles. Thus, the remnants of nerves, pus, tissues that have undergone necrosis, and other superfluous structures are removed. The dentist may accidentally pierce one of the bends. As a rule, such problems are solved promptly with the use of dental glue. An inexperienced physician may not pay attention to this and seal the perforated area. As a result, the cement will go beyond it and will cause severe discomfort to the patient.
Seal shrinkage
The cured composite shrinks over time. However, it is very firmly attached to the inner walls of the hole, so it pulls hard tissues along with it. Microscopic cracks form. Do not worry, the dentin will grow naturally, but at the very beginning, air masses will penetrate into the gaps formed, irritating the nerve endings.
Foreign body
Dental instruments are quite fragile, so sometimes their fragments can fall into the cavity when broken. If a specialist notices a problem in time, he can easily get a broken piece or hermetically seal the area where he penetrated. When the doctor does not notice the breakdown, at the end of therapy, the tissues can become inflamed, and the patient will experience pain.
Allergy
When a tooth pulsates after canal filling, one should not exclude individual intolerance to the components of the compositions used. This also happens in the presence of a galvanic current. The metal elements of prostheses, orthodontic structures, and filling particles begin to interact with each other, and an allergic reaction occurs.
Malocclusion
If the anesthesia is still working, it will be difficult for a patient with a similar problem to tell how comfortably the teeth close after the procedure. Some are even embarrassed to say that not everything is in order. As a result, the filling material goes beyond the crown, and the opposite one presses harder than usual.
Depressurization
This phenomenon is most often observed for the reasons listed above. Under the external influence, one of the edges of the seal moves away from the surface, the tightness is broken. The unprotected contents of the well open to aggressive stimuli and respond to this with soreness.
Repeated caries
Why does the tooth hurt, or ache after filling the canals, if the dentist did not clean the cavities well or processed them poorly? In the pathological area, pathogenic microorganisms accumulate, which cause secondary carious lesions. They intensively multiply under the filling and reach the dentin and nerves.
Pulpitis
A serious complication, accompanied by damage to the nerve fibers. Pathology is caused not only by doctors’ mistakes but also by internal inflammatory processes formed in voids with foreign objects (a fragment of an instrument, a crown).
Cyst or granuloma of the root
As a rule, such neoplasms occur with a diagnosed inflammation of the pulp, when decay products penetrate into the root part. The pain syndrome is strong enough. It is necessary to conduct diagnostic studies, in particular – radiography.
Installation features: pain under a temporary filling
In severe cases (for example, with advanced caries, complicated by an inflammatory process), one visit to the dental office is not enough to solve the problem. During the first visit, the specialist performs sanitation, cleans the tooth cavity, and inserts the drug. This may be an antimicrobial composition or an agent that eliminates inflammation, regenerating dentinal tissues.
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Sometimes it is necessary to “kill” the nerve. For this, a special paste-like substance is applied. To prevent pathogenic microorganisms from penetrating inside, it is necessary to seal the hole with a temporary filling. The person should walk with it until the next visit to the dentist. All this time, pain and other uncomfortable sensations may be present. In some cases, this is considered a variant of the norm, in other situations, such signs indicate that the drugs cannot fully cope with the task. Depending on the patient’s complaints and the clinical picture, the doctor develops further therapeutic tactics.
How pain is treated
No one wants to go through drilling with a drill again. However, what to do if the canals are sealed and the tooth hurts? In some cases, tissue reaming is no longer required: physiotherapeutic procedures are sufficient for the disappearance of pain. Such therapy is indicated in violation of the integrity of the dentin layer during drying.
If the soreness appeared due to the protrusion of the filling material, its excess part will be carefully removed. In case of an allergic reaction, it is important to establish which component arose, and to find a worthy alternative.
What do patients do after root canal filling?
In order for the recovery period to pass quickly and without problems, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules and follow all medical recommendations. First of all, it is important to minimize the external impact on the sealed dental unit and perform daily hygiene procedures.
Preventive measures to help prevent complications:
- Giving up very cold and hot, too hard, sour foods in favor of soft foods at room temperature throughout the week;
- Wearing warm clothes for the weather to reduce the risk of hypothermia;
- Exclusion of bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol);
- Regular brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush.
Do not use whitening pastes, especially those containing abrasive particles. After eating, it is recommended to rinse the mouth with a special rinse.
Why does my tooth hurt after a root canal cleaning?
Pain is present in 95% of all patients who have undergone such manipulations. Unpleasant sensations arise due to exposure to soft and hard tissues, as well as due to injury to the gums.
Factors that lead to discomfort:
- A neglected pathological process and, as a result, a late visit to the dental clinic.
- The presence of severe inflammation. The voids are cleared, but the inflamed structures remain.
- Individual intolerance to the components. It is expressed by swelling, itching, redness, and hyperemia. There are signs of allergic rhinitis.
- There was a tooth fragment inside.
- The filling was carried out with violations. For example, the root is perforated, or the cement composition is out of range.
When it’s not okay
How long can a tooth normally hurt after canal treatment, why is it worth sounding the alarm if the condition does not normalize? Usually, the pain disappears after 2-3 days, but sometimes the discomfort persists for some time. You should be wary if the state of health only worsens or does not change for several days. Why might this happen:
- The cleaning is poor quality;
- The filling composition went beyond the root tip;
- A fragment of enamel or a fragment of a dental instrument remains in the cavity;
- The root is perforated;
- There were signs of an acute allergic reaction.
In no case should you self-medicate? It is important to consult a doctor as soon as possible to develop further treatment tactics.
Sore gums after root canal cleaning
Discomfort can be felt not only at the site of intervention but also in the gum tissues. Causes:
- Dentist errors;
- Anatomically incorrect structure of the unit;
- The medic left the cavity uncleaned;
- In the course of treatment, a medical instrument broke;
- Fibers are mechanically damaged, the swelling has appeared;
- Diagnosed with inflammation of the trigeminal nerve;
- The pathological area was cleaned poorly.
The temperature has risen
If the patient sees an indicator of 37-38 degrees on the thermometer, then the immune system perceives tools and materials as foreign bodies and starts the process of rejection.
Why the normal temperature regime can be violated:
- Inflammation began;
- A viral, bacterial infection has joined;
- Tissues are injured;
- Treatment was carried out for colds or other diseases.
It happens that before visiting the dental clinic, the patient is too worried. Stress also provokes an increase in temperature. Normally, it can remain at the level of 37-37.4 for 1-2 days. If symptoms persist, it is important to see a doctor as soon as possible.
How to help yourself at home
It is better not to self-medicate and consult with specialists even about harmless formulations. One of the main rules is not to influence the treated area with heat (hot drinks, compresses, do not visit baths, saunas).
Medical therapy
When a tooth hurts after cleaning and filling the canals, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs come to the rescue, for example, Analgin, Nurofen, Nise, and Tempalgin. Only a doctor should prescribe medications and calculate the allowable dosages. In addition, before taking it, you should carefully study what is indicated in the instructions for use.
Folk methods
Home medicine also helps to cope with unpleasant symptoms. It is recommended to apply clove oil, fir oil, or lemon balm infusion (a few drops) on a cotton pad or swab and apply to the sore spot for 7-10 minutes. Some people prefer to use ice for this, but the effect of it does not last long. You can also lightly massage the auricle from the aching side.
In what cases it is necessary to turn to specialists
When to See a Doctor Immediately:
- Developed a strong inflammatory process;
- An allergy appeared;
- Pain syndrome persists for 3 days or more;
- Soreness only intensifies;
- Pus is released;
- Elevated body temperature does not go astray for 2 days.
Summing up
How long after filling the canals, the tooth hurts when pressed, and biting food, depends on the depth of the lesion and the complexity of the medical intervention. In most cases, pain is a variant of the norm, but sometimes doctors make mistakes and do not follow the filling technology, as a result, re-inflammation develops, requiring long and difficult treatment. Seek qualified help from the dentists of the Dentika clinic and forget about problems with your teeth.