If you’re experiencing facial twitching prior to a root canal, it can be explained by anxiety.
But what about twitching of your face after the root canal treatment?
Facial twitching – or twitching of muscles in some part of the face – is not unheard of following a root canal procedure.
Twitching somewhere on the face, for purposes of this article, would be the same type of “jumping” that occurs to one’s eyelid from time to time.
What does a root canal involve?
“A root canal is a treatment modality which focuses on treating a nerve inside the tooth which has become irreversibly inflamed or necrotic (dead) due to a variety of reasons,” says Marco L. Tironi, DDS, who practices dentistry in Rochester, MI.
“The treatment consists of removing the nerve of the tooth and cleaning the nerve canal to remove as much residual bacteria as possible.
“The nerve canal is then filled with a sealer and long-term filling material to attempt to avoid any further leakage of bacteria in the nerve canal of the tooth.
“The nerves that are treated in these treatments are sensory in nature. Conversely, nerves that make our face twitch are called motor nerves.
“An example of this is our facial nerve, which supplies motor innervation to the muscles of facial expression. In short, a root canal should not cause facial twitching.”
If there’s twitching involving your face soon after a root canal, this can be residual anxiety over the procedure, such as, perhaps…how much you’ll have to pay out of pocket for it.
A member of the Academy of General Dentistry, Dr. Tironi is trained in sedation dentistry, dental implantology, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics.
