Severe pain after root canal treatment

Root canal isn’t a painful treatment, as I explained before, but there is a possibility of severe pain after first session of root canal treatment. This is called an endodontic flare up. Usually this happens because during root canal disinfection, some of the necrotic pulp debris (dead nerve debris) may pass to the bone surrounding the tooth root tip, and reactivate a chronic abscess (not painful) thus resulting in an acute abscess.

Normally our immune system is able to cope with the extrusion of infected material, but in other occasions, especially if there’s an old but controlled and silent infection, this excess of infected debris causes an unbalance and pain will be excruciating as described by some patients. In these cases antibiotic therapy may be needed. You should contact your dentist as soon as possible, and despite the severe pain you are experiencing, you shouldn’t panic, as this is described in the literature as something that may happen.

Severe root canal pain after procedure is ended, is not as normal as between root canal treatment sessions. A mild discomfort is acceptable during the first 2 days to one week after the end of the treatment, but severe pain after root canal treatment, that won’t go away even with painkillers, probably means something went wrong. In this case you should wait 2-3 days and if you don’t feel any better you should contact your dentist and let him know what you are experiencing. He’ll be the best person to evaluate the current status of your tooth and what further treatment will be needed.