One of the most common causes of pain that people visit a dentist for is dental pulpitis. We can define it as the painful inflammation of the dental pulp, and this is a tissue with numerous nerves and blood vessels located in the area of ​​the innermost tooth.

There are three types of pulpitis:

• Reversible pulpitis: of a milder nature, as its name indicates, it can be reversed if diagnosed in time.
• Irreversible pulpitis: This is a more severe diagnosis that occurs in cases with high complications. When a root canal cannot be performed, the tooth must be extracted.
• Hyperplastic pulpitis: The pulp of the tooth becomes inflamed, eroding and having communication with the mouth, and a pink spot can be seen on the tooth.

Symptoms of pulpitis

The main symptom that should alert us to the high possibility of suffering from dental pulpitis is pain. Which can take place in two possible ways:
On the one hand, when consuming or taking any food that is either very hot or very cold. In this case, we are referring to reversible pulpitis, and the pain appears when a stimulus is applied to the tooth. The pain will subside just a few minutes after removing the stimulus.
On the other hand, when we refer to irreversible pulpitis, the pain appears spontaneously, or remains over time for a couple of minutes once any hot or cold stimulus has been removed, although it is normally the second. On many occasions the patient has problems identifying exactly which tooth the pain occurs in.
In addition, the pain may cease for several days when necrosis occurs in the pulp. Once it has been completed, the pulp does not respond to stimuli such as cold or heat, but it does become sensitive to pressure.

Causes of pulpitis

If we look at the main causes that can lead to a case of pulpitis, we find dental caries, which is the most common cause of pulpitis.
After it we find the traumas. If we adequately treat mild inflammation, the pulp will not suffer irreversible damage. Severe inflammation can be the cause of pulp death.
Pulpitis can cause an infection, in which a pocket of pus develops at the root of the tooth. An untreated infection in a tooth can spread to the jaw or other areas of the body.

Pulpitis treatments

Pulpitis disappears when the cause is treated such as: removing cavities, restoring teeth, root canal treatment, and sometimes antibiotics.

Duration of pulpitis

Reversible pulpitis will disappear in a period of 4 to 6 weeks, after being treated by a specialist.