1. Endodontic (Root Canal) therapy removes the sick tissue from inside the tooth and replaces it with filling inside the roots. The diseased tissue causes inflammation inside the tooth and irritation in the surrounding tissue areas. Once the cause of the irritation has been removed the tooth should start to heal. Although healing is not immediate you should start feeling better in one or two weeks. To understand the healing process, consider the familiar example of having a splinter in your finger. Once the splinter is removed, your finger feels better but the surrounding tissues still feel sore. This is similar to what an endodontic treatment will do – it removes the cause of the problem but the ligament and the bone that surrounds the root(s) are still bruised. This is the reason anti-inflammatories work so well, since they reduce the bruising surrounding the tooth. Sometimes the tooth does not become sore till the next day, so we recommend that you take anti-inflammatories immediately after endodontic treatment. This will prevent the production of pain mediators that will later cause you pain.
3. You will need to take anti-inflammatory three (3) times a day for five (5) days containing ibuprofen. (Unless you cannot take ibuprofen for medical reasons). This will help the tooth heal. If you still have some discomfort please contact our office so that we may prescribe some stronger medication.
7. Please contact your general dentist for follow-up treatment. If needed your general dentist will place a filling and/or build-up and crown on the endodontically treated tooth. Remember to make sure that the treated tooth does not feel any discomfort, especially to chewing, before placing permanent crown.