AFTER ROOT CANAL TREATMENT

AFTER THE TREATMENT

Your anesthesia will wear off in a few hours. Refrain from eating until your anesthesia wears off

to prevent possible injury to your lips and cheeks. Take recommended pain medication before the

numbness wears off to help you maintain an acceptable comfort level. Be sure to take any

medication as prescribed to help the area heal.

DISCOMFORT

Discomfort or soreness in the area is normal for a few days or even weeks. It can range from

mild to severe. This occurs because of existing infection and inflammation of the gum and tooth

ligaments as well as the manipulation of the tooth during treatment. The gums may be sore and

the tooth is often tender to biting or chewing. Over the counter analgesics such as Ibuprofen,

Advil, Aleve, Aspirin, Excedrine, and Tylenol should relieve most of the discomfort.

Rinsing with warm salt water several times per day (1 teaspoon of salt per glass of warm water)

will help. Discomfort in the area in no way affects the successful outcome of treatment.

If antibiotics and/or pain medications were prescribed, please take them as directed. If you were

given a prescription for pain, it is meant to help you with more serious discomfort only for a

couple of days.

In the unlikely event that swelling, fever, or severe pain should occur, please call this office

promptly.

TEMPORARY FILLING

A temporary filling has been placed in the entry made into your tooth. It is normal for a thin

layer of the temporary filling to be chewed away between appointments. An unusual taste can be

expected. Should all of the temporary filling come out please call our office. It's important that

your temporary filling stays intact until the placement of a permanent restoration.

FINAL RESTORATIONS

A crown or another permanent restoration should be placed shortly after root canal therapy is

completed. Teeth are usually fragile after root canal therapy and may fracture if not covered with

a strong permanent restoration like a crown. Crown placement not only protects a root canal

treated tooth from future fractures and decay, it also protects the root canal filling from possible

contamination and re-infection. Delays in covering your recently treated tooth with a permanent

restoration may result in a possible loss of the tooth or require re-treatment of the root canal.

As part of our service to you, we recommend that you return to this office in approximately 6-9

months for re-examination to determine that healing is progressing normally. There will be no

additional fee for this service.