Pain during the root canal treatment
In general, the root canal treatment has a fixed procedure. With a local anaesthetic before the opening of the tooth substance and the root cavity, it can usually be performed without pain. If there are inflammatory processes in the root canals, pain may occur in the area of the tooth to be treated, which cannot be completely eliminated.
Under these circumstances, the local anesthetic can be injected directly into the diseased tooth pulp after opening the root canal. The pain that may occur will subside within a few seconds. After the anaesthetic has been administered, it should be allowed to take effect for about five to ten minutes.
In this way, the occurrence of pain during the rest of the root canal treatment can be largely excluded.If patients complain of pain in the first few days after root canal treatment, this can often be an indication that the affected tooth pulp or nerve fibres could not be completely removed. The root of the tooth should then be reopened in order to carry out a root canal treatment. However, the pain that occurs after a root canal treatment can also be harmless and subside after a few days. In most cases, pain after a root canal treatment can be treated well with the help of light painkillers. As the active ingredient ibuprofen also has an inhibitory effect on various inflammatory mediators, it is often used to relieve pain after a successful root canal treatment.
How many sessions are necessary?
The course of a root canal treatment is generally divided into several sessions. The first session is usually used to remove the pulp affected by inflammatory processes and the nerve fibers embedded in it. Before the affected tooth can be treated, the initial situation must be determined by taking an X-ray (tooth film).
Subsequently, during the same session, a local anesthesia of the tooth to be treated is performed. After an exposure time of about ten minutes, the dentist can open the tooth and expose the medullary cavity. This is followed by the removal of the nerve fibers and the disinfection of the root canals.
In order to ensure the success of the root canal treatment, an anti-inflammatory medication is then usually applied and the tooth is provisionally closed. The actual root canal treatment procedure is continued in a second session, about 3-5 days later. Only if there are no more signs of inflammation in this session, can the root canals and tooth be completely closed. In order to record and control the success of the root canal treatment, another x-ray is usually taken (the so-called X-ray control image).
