Friday, October 7, 2011

Would A Root Canal Hurt Less If There's Already A Hole In My Tooth?

396545381 I will be getting a root canal done soon and I was wondering if it would hurt less since there's already a hole in my tooth. One of my filling fell out of my tooth and my dentist said it can't be refilled so now I need a root canal and a crown.

3 comments:

  1. SunnyDoc - The pain would generally be less when there is already a hole in your tooth. This is because the tooth is normally a closed cavity, when there's an infection inside it causes the pressure to build up, this is what causes pain.

    The hole in your tooth has relieved the pressure and the pain should be less during the procedure, but be sure to get your treatment done, or it could progress to a more serious infection.

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  2. amybeader - If your tooth is NOT hurting right now, then you should have little pain from a root canal. What hurts is the nerve being exposed, or if you get an infection that forms an abscess in the tooth or bone. When a filling falls out that way, often what has happened is that there's already a level of damage to the tooth that to save it (always a good thing when possible), a root canal is done and a crown is placed on the tooth. What a root canal does is remove the nerve and clean out the canal where the nerve runs. Depending on the tooth, there may be several canals (for example in a molar where you are likely to have two or three roots). Once that is done—and it's done with anesthetics, so you should feel no pain other than a bit of stinging when the anesthetic is injected—that canal will be filled with a material that is melted into place. The stuff is somewhat similar to the stuff inside a golf ball. It's melted so that it fills not only the cleaned out canal, but also any tiny cracks that might be in the tooth, sealing it to prevent further damage and infection.

    Usually a temporary crown is applied to the tooth, and the permanent crown is made and you'll get it applied later. It takes a while to make the crown for you—each one is specific for your tooth and each tooth is different, so there's something of an art to making a crown. The dentist also wants to make sure no infection sets in; this is rare but it can happen.

    If you experience a lot of pain, you should let your dentist know. Generally you can expect some pain/discomfort for up to a few days after the root canal is done. Usually the dentist will give you a prescription for a painkiller, or advice on what to take.

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