Hot Tooth

Hot Tooth: Painful root inflammation

Successful root canal treatment results in a significant improvement in quality of life, as the patient’s own tooth can be preserved and remains firmly in place in the jaw. This allows you to bite down hard – and without any pain. You can also do without expensive dentures. This is not only good for your wallet: unlike dentures, natural teeth also blend in perfectly with the overall appearance of your jaw from an aesthetic point of view. To prevent any pain during root canal treatment, a local anaesthetic is used during the treatment.

In very rare cases, the anesthetic does not work, which can cause extreme pain. The technical term is hot tooth. But when does the syndrome occur? And what can you do if the nerve in question does not want to go numb despite the anaesthetic? The following guide will tell you everything you need to know about the “hot tooth”.

Severe toothache: In what context does a hot tooth occur?

As a rule, the hot tooth is treated as part of a tooth root inflammation diagnosed. Pulsating pain occurs especially when eating and drinking and at night in bed. The solution: The inflamed tooth root is killed and removed as part of root canal treatment. However, the tooth must be anaesthetized for this procedure.

If the anesthetic – and therefore its pain-relieving effect – remains ineffective, this is known as a hot tooth. While the lips become numb after a short time, the affected tooth continues to hurt unabashedly. Without sufficient anesthesia, the inflammation of the tooth bed cannot be treated and the corresponding nerve removed.

Toothache despite anesthesia: How does a hot tooth develop?

Hot teeth are triggered by caries bacteria. If they attack the nerve of the tooth inside the tooth root and work their way into its center, so-called toxins are formed there. These decompose both tooth substance and nerve tissue and cause severe toothache. The reason for this is an inflammation with a very strong blood supply.

Inflammations of this type have a particularly active metabolism. For this reason, anesthetics are immediately transported away again. Although the local anesthetic can have its numbing effect in the periphery of the tooth, the corresponding nerve continues to send pain signals to the brain. While the lips and tongue become numb, targeted numbing of the painful nerve is no longer possible. The teeth of the lower jaw, especially molars, are particularly susceptible to hot-tooth syndrome.

What can be done to prevent pain during root canal treatment despite anesthesia?

To avoid the development of a hot tooth and the extreme pain associated with it, you should first ensure effective daily dental hygiene. You should consider the following points and recommendations in this regard:

Brush your teeth twice a day for at least three minutes each time.
We recommend a fluoride toothpaste for this purpose.
You should also clean the spaces between your teeth thoroughly once a day.
Dental floss or interdental brushes are ideal for removing food debris and bacteria.
Medicated mouth rinses can be used after brushing the teeth to support this.
Also clean the surface of the tongue to reduce the number of bacteria in the entire oral cavity.

However, if a nerve becomes inflamed, you should take any initial symptoms of a hot tooth – such as increased sensitivity to pain when chewing – very seriously. Make an appointment with a dentist immediately, as the root inflammation can still be treated at this stage and the development of a hot tooth can be avoided. If the caries is treated in time, it is possible to save the nerve in question without having to remove it by using bioactive preparations.

Dentist W. Isakowitsch: Your experienced dentist

We are your competent dentist in Friedrichshain. As THE specialist for endodontics in Berlin we carry out root canal treatments of all kinds. The high-quality technical equipment in our practice combined with many years of experience and in-depth specialist knowledge are our recipe for success. This enables us to achieve optimal results even in difficult endodontic cases. Feel free to contact us or ask your dentist for a referral.