After Care Following Endodontic (Root Canal) Therapy

What to expect:

  1. It is not uncommon for a tooth to be uncomfortable or even to experience a dull ache immediately after receiving root canal therapy. This should subside within 1-2 weeks.

  2. Your tooth will be sensitive to biting pressure and may even appear to feel loose. This feeling is a result of the sensitivity of nerve-endings in the tissue just outside the end of the root, where it was cleaned, irrigated, and placed filler and sealer material. This feeling will be short-lived.

  3. You may feel a depression or rough area (on top of a back tooth or the back of a front tooth) where the entry to canal was made. There is a soft, temporary material in that area, which may wear off to some degree before your next visit.

  4. Occasionally a small 'bubble' or 'pimple' will appear on the gum tissue within a few days after completion of a root canal. This represents the release of pressure and bacteria which no longer be sustained around the tooth. This should disappear within a few days.

What to do:

  1. Your root canal treatment is completed now. Material placed on the opening of your tooth is temporary. Please make an appointment to see your general dentist within 2-4 weeks for a final restoration or a permanent crown. The delay or failure of obtaining a final restoration or a crown could cause failure in root canal treatment due to bacterial leakage or fracture.

  2. Take something for pain relief within one hour of leaving the office, to get the medication into your blood stream before the anesthesia begins to wear off. Generally, for adult patients, 3 tablets of 200mg Ibuprofen (Motrin) are recommended 3 to 4 times a day. If you cannot take ibuprofen because of a medical condition or stomach disorder, acetaminophen (Tylenol) can be taken instead, although it does not contain anti-inflammatory properties. Aspirin and aspirin- containing products are not advisable, as they tend to increase bleeding from the area that was treated.

  3. Whenever possible, try to chew on the opposite side from the tooth that was treated, until you have a crown placed, or until the tooth has a final restoration. Until that time, a tooth treated with root canal treatment is still very weak and might fracture due to inadequate care or improper use, such as biting on something hard, grinding, trauma, etc...
  4. Please avoid chewing gum, caramels, popcorn, or other sticky, soft candy, which could dislodge the temporary material or fracture your tooth.

  5. Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed to help control infection. Please take all medication as directed.

  6. Female patients currently taking oral contraceptives or using other hormonal based contraceptives need to use an additional birth control method if antibiotics are prescribed.

Please call if:

  1. If you are experiencing symptoms more intense or of longer duration than those described above.

  2. You encounter significant post operative swelling.

  3. The temporary material comes off or feeling 'high' when biting.

  4. Your tooth fractures.

  5. You have any questions at all.

Please go to emergency room immediately if you have any:

  1. Difficulties breathing

  2. High fever (higher than 103 F)

  3. Swelling below the lower jaw line