Why Does My Tooth Hurt If My Nerve Is Dead?
Before delving into the exact procedures of a root canal in Bushwick, it is necessary to first comprehend the root canal system. The crown (clinical crown) is the region of each tooth that is above the gum line. The root, or roots, of a multi-rooted tooth is located under your gums and contained in the bony socket.
Inside the root is a complex network of canal systems. These canals hold the dental pulp, which includes the tooth's nerve and vascular systems. The neurological system responds with pain to stimuli such as cold, air, cavities/bacteria, trauma, and so on.
The vascular system transports nutrition, waste materials, immune cells, and other essential components to keep the tooth 'alive.' The difficulty with this system is that it, unlike a blood artery, does neither expand or shrink. This presents various problems when the pressure varies due to trauma or infection, creating inflammation in this tissue since it is unable to react to the pressures it encounters. Another issue with this system is that the non-compliant region acts as a barrier for germs and inflammatory cells to cause havoc, resulting in pain and discomfort.
How Does the Pulp Act When Inflamed
A normal, healthy dental pulp is known as a vital pulp. When stimulated, a vital pulp produces a painful feeling that lasts a few seconds and is comparable to that of other teeth. Take cold as an example...Cold is a natural unpleasant stimulation for the tooth pulp. When applied for a short amount of time, it causes the typical reaction, which lasts a few seconds before dissipating. However, if the pulp is inflamed, this response will be substantially exacerbated, and the pain from the cold will last for some time.
The challenge is identifying how inflammatory the pulp is at any given time following a surgery, or when a cavity forms. The pulp has a remarkable capacity to heal following trauma, such as a cleaning, filling, or crown. As cavities and fillings occur, the pulp's capacity to recover from previous insults decreases. This eventually leads to an irreversible process in which the pulp gets so inflamed that the pressure produces severe pain and necessitates endodontic intervention, such as a root canal. The success rate of a root canal surgery when a critical inflammatory pulp is treated is exceptionally high, ranging from 94-97% according to most studies.
Why Does It Hurt If the Nerve Is Dead?
When an inflamed pulp is subjected to pressure for an extended period of time without intervention, it may die. The pulp is now referred to as necrotic pulp. However, unlike the pain caused by an inflammatory pulp, which is normally restricted within the pulp, a necrotic pulp causes discomfort to come from the periodontal ligament, a membrane surrounding the root. The nerve endings in the periodontal ligament are particularly sensitive, and the dead pulpal tissue offers nutrients to the bacteria that infiltrated the root canal and caused the necrosis in the first place. Bacterial growth accelerates exponentially, and waste and byproducts collect in the constricted non-compliant canal, causing pressure to increase.
This pressure exists within the periodontal membrane, resulting in extreme inflammation of the nerve endings, which causes pain. Patients commonly view this discomfort as emanating from within the tooth. When bacterial byproducts build, they form pus, which eventually destroys the bone around the root. This is typically used to diagnose pulp necrosis since it is evident on an x-ray as a dark region surrounding the root tip. If the tooth is to be saved, a root canal is required to remove the necrotic pulp tissue from the canal space, clean it, and seal it with a root filling.
Once the nutritional supply is removed, the bacteria cannot survive, and the healing process may begin. When the pulp is necrotic, recovery might take months, if not years, in medically impaired individuals. According to published research, the overall success rate of root canal treatment on a necrotic pulp is between 85 and 90%.