What can be done about the pain during a root canal treatment? | Pain during a root canal treatment

What can be done about the pain during a root canal treatment?

To prevent pain during root canal treatment, the dentist will give an injection with a drug (anesthetic) that suppresses the pain. The anaesthetic takes between five and ten minutes to take effect. In some cases, however, the existing inflammation is so severe that a complete elimination of pain is not possible.

In such cases, an attempt can be made to place the anaesthetic in the root canals to anaesthetize the nerve directly. In addition, various approaches are currently being worked on which combine a conventional painkiller, such as paracetamol, with the syringe. For this purpose, the tablet is taken a few hours before the start of treatment and then a syringe is given at the start of treatment.

In most cases, this eliminates the pain. However, if the pain gets worse again during treatment, the dentist can be asked to give another injection. It also helps to think of something nice and to fix a point in the room with your eyes or to bounce slightly with your leg.

In some cases it is possible that the so-called local anesthesia is not or only partially effective.This is caused by the existing inflammation of the dental bed underneath the tooth, which also causes the severe pain. Inflammation always causes an increased blood flow in the tissue and thus ensures a faster metabolism. As a result, the medication is also transported out of the tissue more quickly and cannot then act on the tooth nerve for long enough.

Although the lip and tongue may be numb, the affected tooth still hurts despite the anaesthetic. In this case, however, the dentist reacts by injecting another, stronger drug with other additives. In some cases, this has the desired effect and relieves the pain to such an extent that at least the necessary treatment can be carried out.

Pain during a laser treatment

During root canal treatment we try to remove or destroy all bacteria that have entered the root canal. This is achieved on the one hand by removing the infected tissue and on the other hand by using disinfecting rinsing solutions. Furthermore, there is the possibility of irradiating the tooth with a laser.

The light can penetrate deep into the tissue and attack the bacterial membrane there. Pain occurs during laser treatment if the light is applied to the tissue for too long. The resulting heat can damage the tooth and cause pain.