If you have a dental infection and need a root canal treatment, then the vast majority of your pain will reduce once the infected tissues are removed. However, you are likely to feel some soreness for a few days after your treatment. Keep reading to learn why and also how you can minimize the pain as much as possible.

Why Is The Tooth Painful?

When your tooth becomes infected, your body reacts strongly to the invading bacteria. The tissues inside your tooth swell and place pressure on the tooth. Outer tissues inflame as well and cause discomfort. Specifically, the tissues that hold your tooth in place, called the dental ligaments, swell. When this happens, they press on the jaw and the gum tissues. The gums are often inflamed too, and this can exacerbate your discomfort.

Since inflammation is your body's way of responding to an infection, the swelling will reduce once the infection is treated. However, it will take a few days for this to happen. Basically, your immune system will stop calling for an increase in blood flow to the infected area. Until this happens and the swelling reduces significantly, you are likely to feel some pain. 

In some cases, swelling may continue for more than a few days. In this case, your immune system is working hard to remove dead tissues, foreign matter, and dead bacteria from the area. This is essential to the healing process, so be patient. 

How Can You Reduce Pain?

If you want to reduce the pain you feel around your treated tooth, then there are a few things you can do. Avoid anything that may cause irritate the inflamed tissues. Hard foods, spicy items, or extremely hot or cold drinks are a few things to avoid. Also, avoid direct pressure. This means that you should not probe the area with your fingers or your toothbrush. 

Clean around the tooth gently to remove bacteria and food particles. If your immune system detects the presence of bacteria or foreign matter, then the immune response may continue and swelling may worsen. Use hydrogen peroxide or salt water rinses and invest in a water flosser to clean around the treated tooth.

You can also take NSAID pain relievers for the discomfort. NSAID pain relievers block the release of chemicals that cause inflammation in the body. As the chemicals reduce, so does the inflammation. However, swelling will not go away completely until the immune system removes dead cells from the area.

Contact a professional like Kuban David S DDS to learn more.