What are the common symptoms a patient may experience with a tooth that needs endodontic treatment?
Temperature sensitivity: When the nerves of the tooth’s pulp chamber become inflamed and/or infected, prolonged sensitivity to cold and heat will begin. Typically, cold sensitivity will be the first symptom a patient will notice. This indicates that a large set of nerves, called the A-fibers, have become inflamed or irritated and as a result, respond to cold at a more heightened level than the nerves in other teeth. Lingering Cold and Heat sensitivity will become more evident as the inflammation reaches the C-fibers, a smaller set of nerves that lie deeper in the pulp chamber. When these nerves become irritated, patients will notice that placing cold or heat on the tooth makes that tooth or that region of the mouth ache for prolonged periods of time. Biting/Chewing sensitivity: The pulp extends from the crown of the tooth to the tip or the roots where it connects to the ligament surrounding the root. Once the pulp becomes inflamed, this inflammation can travel to the ligament that surr
