Root canal treatment

[loggy01]

I am having to have root canal treatment on a back tooth of mine. The dentist says the tooth is already dead. What I dont understand is that why is this tooth hurting if it is dead and why I need the root canal treatment on a dead tooth. Is this treatment painful.

[franchie007]

hello!

i used to be a dental nurse so can answer your question!

A root canal treatment is more often than not done on a tooth of which the roots are already dead, they do the root canal treatment to stop the dead root getting an infection and causing a really painful abysess! the tooth will be hurting because it may be infected and inflamed. Ive had one done, it's not the nicest expirience, and it taken quite a while, it doesnt hurt as such, just a bit uncomfortable!

hope this helps.

[loggy01]

Ahhh! That makes sense. I have had the tooth opened out today which took about 45 mins and then he put a anthestic pack in and a temporary filling. The temporary filling instantly made a pain shoot up to my head so he has removed to let the tooth drain to lessen the pressure and I have to go back next week for the rest. Hopefully it wont take as long seeing as I have had some work done re. this. What I still do not understand is that the tooth is dead and I said "wouldn't it be black" and he said that only the front teeth go black??? Why is this?

[franchie007]

hmmm.. not sure about that really! back teeth can definitely go black as well.. thats why with some root canal treatments dentists may recommend a crown after a year or so, as the tooth gets weak and discoloured..

[saxy_jag]

I've had several RC treatments, so can confirm what franchie says (although I doubt I need to). All of mine are front teeth, but I can tell you they have discoloured to a greater or lesser extent over the years. In one of my older crowns, you can actually see the discolouration through the surface of the crown if you look closely.

Whether it's painful or not will depend on you, your dentist and the anaesthetic. My teeth/gums are quite sensitive and I'm a bit of wimp, so my dentist always uses the highest dose of anaesthetic that she's able to. She happens also to be a very careful, accurate and intuitive worker and has only ever once really hurt me beyond the initial injection. That was when she brushed her hand against something holding something in place whilst she was working. I think she must have caught a nerve ending or something and she couldn't apologise enough.

Generally, though, it's not a painful process. You may be a bit sore afterwards, when the anaesthetic wears off, because it's quite traumatic for your poor little gums, but a few paracetamol and some tlc will soon take care of that.

[loggy01]

My other thought is that if the tooth itself is dead does it mean the nerves and roots are too?