“Why does my throat hurt after a root canal?”

Hello I hope you are doing better. Some patients report feeling soreness in the throat area after dental appointments. This could be attributed to the local anesthetic injections you received during treatment. Another possibility is the suction/saliva ejector that is used during treatment which can cause irritation to the back of the throat. Another more rare possibility is the appearance of a herpes labialis lesion. Patients that get fever blisters or cold sores which is thought to be caused by the herpes simplex virus (type one) usually present on the lips but can also present anywhere in the oral cavity usually brought on by some type of irritation including dental work. This virus lives latent in the nerves near the face and erupt after different types of stress both emotional or physical such as sun exposure , cold weather or dental treatment.

It's possible that muscles are strained during the process and this could manifest as throat pain. Lastly, a substance from a dental procedure could go into the throat and cause an irritation. In a day or two, sore throats of this kind are likely to pass.

Your mouth was open for a long time is a possiblity. Was a rubber dam used? You may have possibly swallowed some of the root canal irrigating fluid. Contact the dental office ASAP.