Root Canal Question

[Sazoo]

I had my first root canal 2 days ago in one of my lower back molars. The dentist said it would hurt (or maybe he said it would "be sore") for a week or two, probably. He gave me a prescription for Vicodin for the pain.

It has been painful these last couple of days. At first my jaw was sore and achy, particularly when I opened my mouth, but I think that was partly from where they shot the anesthetic into the back of my jaw, and partly from having my mouth open for so long. That pain is pretty much gone now. However from time to time my lower jaw area around that tooth throbs/aches. This is the type of pain I was expecting to have. I am hoping it will lessen and go away in the next few days/week.

But also I have a sharp pain that I feel when I bite down on the tooth that was worked on. The pain happens when I even just tap on the tooth lightly with my upper teeth, or even with my fingernail. My step mom mentioned tonight that that particular tooth shouldn't hurt like that because they removed the roots from it so it is basically dead.

So...now I'm worried that this sharp pain when I bite down on the tooth is not normal. What if they didn't get all of the roots out? The dentist told me I should wait at least a week or two before coming in for my crown to make sure that everything seems okay after the root canal. What if this sharp pain doesn't go away? What if they have to re-do my root canal? :eek: OMG that would soooo not be good. The first time was bad enough (I was okay once I was numbed up and on the nitrous oxide, but I was really nervous when I first got there & the first shot of anesthetic really hurt).

I guess my question is whether or not this type of pain is normal to have a couple of days after getting a root canal, or if I should be concerned about it and call the dentist on Monday. :confused:

(Pleeeease tell me it's normal...) :o

[PinkMartini]

I had a root canal done about 5 months ago and the entire time I had the temp crown on my mouth killed me! I mean I was taking Tylenol like every 4 hours for a few weeks (until they got me in to put the perm crown on), it was absolutely HORRIBLE. I called them after the first few days of pain and they said it was 'normal' to have that pain with a temp. Once I got the perm one put on the pain went away after about a week, although still every once in awhile when I bite something hard I'll get a sharp pain....

[Sazoo]

I had a root canal done about 5 months ago and the entire time I had the temp crown on my mouth killed me! I mean I was taking Tylenol like every 4 hours for a few weeks (until they got me in to put the perm crown on), it was absolutely HORRIBLE. I called them after the first few days of pain and they said it was 'normal' to have that pain with a temp. Once I got the perm one put on the pain went away after about a week, although still every once in awhile when I bite something hard I'll get a sharp pain....Okay, that's good to know. I didn't think about the fact that the crown will protect the tooth more and that perhaps that will lessen the pain. Hmmm, that may be a reason to get the crown sooner rather than later (they told me to wait at least a week, but to come in and get it put on sometime in the next 6 months. I was going to wait a month or two probably for cost reasons, but maybe I shouldn't wait too long after all...)

Thanks for your feedback!