Tooth Pain         Changing Your View Of Root Canals

Tooth pain is the pits! There really isn't much worse than a throbbing tooth.

What can make it even worse is that the source of tooth pain can be very challenging to locate. Even for a dentist!

I've been a root canal specialist for over 20 years and I still find it challenging at times. As an endodontist I've seen many people for their pain problem only after they have been seen by other health care providers such as a:

• Family physician
• Ear, nose, and throat specialist
• Neurologist
• Psychiatrist

It is only after these other health care professionals have not located the source of pain that I will see the patient. Although tooth pain was the problem all along it seemed like another problem so the patient started with their physician instead of their dentist.

But the opposite also occurs. It might seem like a tooth problem but in reality there is a non-dental source for the pain. In these cases I've seen the patient first and had to refer them to a physician.

Sources of Non-dental Tooth Pain :

Sinus infection. A sinus toothache is very common. In fact many years ago my dad had a tooth removed because of a severe toothache.

The only problem was that the pain remained after the tooth was extracted!

A sinus toothache can feel just like a tooth that needs a root canal. These can be very frustrating for your dentist to accurately diagnose. Always let your dentist know if you have had a recent sinus infection or if you have chronic sinus problems.

Angina or other serious heart problems. Did you know that tooth and jaw pain might be
a person's only sign of a heart attack! This is one good reason to never ignore jaw or tooth pain.

TMJ syndrome. The temperomandibular joints are located right in front of your ears. This joint can become inflamed and feel just like a toothache.

As a root canal specialist I've seen many people that
simply had a problem with their TMJ. Root canal treatment is not necessary in these cases!

There are actually several possible causes of dentally related tooth pain. One thing you need to know is that the pain can come from nerve tissue inside the tooth or outside the tooth.

Tooth pain from nerve tissue inside the tooth.

On the inside of a tooth is some soft tissue called the dental pulp. This tissue actually forms your tooth when you are a child. As an adult the dental pulp doesn’t have a vital function. The pulp contains nerve fibers as well as blood vessels.

Your tooth can become painful when the pulp is either inflamed or infected. The most common causes of pulp inflammation and infection are:

• tooth decay
• deep fillings
• cracks
• trauma

Tooth pain from nerve tissue outside the tooth.

There are also nerve fibers in the surrounding bone and gums as well as the ligament that attaches the root to the bone socket. When you have a diseased pulp these surrounding tissues become inflamed and painful.

When a tooth abscesses you will typically experience pain from the tissues outside the tooth at the tip of the root. This is why your tooth may be sore to biting.

There may also be swelling of this area. The swelling may be small and localized or it could be a large swelling in your jaw.

So what is the remedy for tooth pain? If you have a gum abscess you may just need the gums around your tooth cleaned.

But the most common and severe tooth pain comes from an inflamed or infected dental pulp. For this there are only 2 options.

Option #1: Tooth removal. Dentists prefer to save teeth and not extract them. Extracting a tooth may be the quickest remedy for tooth pain but it can lead to more cost and other problems in the future.

Option #2: Root canal treatment. This can be performed by a general dentist or an endodontist (root canal specialist). The root canal is such a dreaded procedure that some people choose to not save their tooth.

I’ve written a digital book, The Relaxed Root Canal,  that helps the fearful patient relax for their root canal treatment. In this book I answer over 80 questions that I’ve heard in my 20+ years of performing root canals.

I've seen many patients who have tried this and the results aren't good!

In Chapter 5 I’ll also give you the one question you should ask your dentist BEFORE having the root canal treatment performed.

You should get a YES ANSWER to this question!

I’ll even give you my recommendation for what to do if you get a NO ANSWER to this question.

The Relaxed Root Canal is a digital book that you can quickly and easily read on your computer in minutes. For more information please CLICK HERE.

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