How To Relieve Root Canal Infection Symptoms

A root canal isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, but the process is far more bearable than it used to be. A root canal is a procedure that can save the life of an infected tooth and stop the spread of harmful oral bacteria.

In a standard root canal, a dentist drills a small incision through the crown of an infected tooth. They then use extremely small dental instruments to clean out the diseased matter from the pulp chamber, reshape the chamber and root canal and proceed to fill in the tooth.

A root canal involves positioning a foreign object into a small space surrounded by gum tissue and nerve endings. Working on these extremely sensitive mouth parts makes a root canal painful. Although the dentist takes every measure to reduce a patient’s pain during a root canal, it can still hurt for a brief time after.

Bring the pain

Anesthetics are much more powerful than in years past, and dentists use local anesthesia to numb the pain their patients would otherwise feel during the procedure.

Of course, anesthesia wears off. As it does, a root canal patient typically starts feeling mild discomfort in the mouth after the operation. This is a delayed reaction to the contact with sensitive gums and nerves from when the dentist cleared out the decayed pulp.

Most of the time, this post-op pain is mild. It’s also mercifully brief, usually lasting no more than a few days, if that long. But even temporary discomfort is too much for many patients to bear. Thankfully, there are a few ways to mitigate the pain associated with a recent root canal.

Over-the-counter medications.

Widely available, non-prescription medications are often all a recovering root canal patient needs to get through the painful aftermath. You may already have bottles of acetaminophen or ibuprofen in your house. Most of the time, a few doses of Advil, Tylenol, Motrin IB, or other pain reliever brands will do the trick. As with all medicine, check with your doctor to ensure that these over-the-counter medications are safe for you to use.

Avoid hard foods.

Chewing on crunchy or tough foods — crusty bread, hard candies, chewing gum, caramels, etc. — can intensify the pain after a root canal. They should be completely avoided for a few hours immediately after the procedure and even longer if your pain persists.

Try stress-relieving techniques.

Pain management is a great side benefit of some of the more well-known and popular stress-relieving methods, such as yoga, meditation, tai chi, dance, or physical exercise. Doing these physical or relaxing activities in the few days after your root canal can remove any pain or discomfort you experience.

Talk to your dentist if you’re still in pain.

If your pain doesn’t go away or you experience continued inflammation after your root canal, call your dentist for further advice or treatment. Root canals that take two sessions are quite common, so scheduling an additional dental visit may be necessary.