Patient Instructions
Before Endodontic Treatment
The root canal treatment will be performed using local anesthesia and you can return to school or work after the procedure.
Please eat a full breakfast or lunch as applicable. If you can, we recommend you take three 200mg Ibuprofen (Advil) tablets or two 220mg Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) tablets one hour before your treatment, it will act as an anti-inflammatory and will minimize post-treatment discomfort.
Continue all the medications that you take every day that were prescribed by your physician for diabetes, blood pressure, etc. Please call our office in case you have any questions prior to your treatment visit.
Please make sure you take antibiotic premedication one hour before your treatment appointment if prescribed by your physician or dentist for Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP), heart murmur, hip, knee, cardiac, or other prostheses, or if you have rheumatic heart disease.
If you have any questions please feel free to call our office at 859-780-2550.
After Endodontic Treatment
Your endodontic treatment has been completed and the root canal system has been permanently sealed. A temporary restoration is placed to seal the outer surface to prevent contamination of the root canal filling.
The numbness might last for 2-3 hours after treatment and take care not to bite your lip, cheek, or tongue while you are still numb. Also, avoid drinking hot liquids or chewing food while you are still numb. Anything cold to drink immediately after the treatment is fine and using a straw to drink is fine too.
You can resume your normal diet after the numbness has worn off. Avoid chewing on your treated tooth (especially hard candy, chewing on ice, etc) until a permanent restoration is placed by your regular dentist.
Your tooth will be sore to biting and oftentimes to touch for the next 5 to 7 days. In rare instances, the soreness to biting may take 2 to 4 weeks to go away.
Your tooth may ache slightly over the next 3 to 5 days. The majority of our patients find that over the counter medications such as Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), Naproxen Sodium (Aleve), Tylenol (if Ibuprofen or Naproxen Sodium can’t be taken) work well. Please take them as recommended on the package. These over the counter medications need to be taken 1-2 days continuously to reduce the inflammation and pain and after that, as needed for pain.
Your gum tissue around your tooth may be sore after the procedure and the soreness will go away within 1-2 days after the procedure.
You must see your regular dentist within the next four to six weeks for him or her to place a permanent restoration in your tooth to protect it from fracture and decay. This could be a small filling in the access opening or a crown, as recommended by your dentist. This is very important. After four to six weeks the temporary filling placed in our office will begin to leak. This may allow for contamination of your permanent root canal filling and may necessitate the retreatment of your tooth.
A complete report of the treatment will be sent to your regular dentist. We ask you to return to our office for a no-charge follow-up examination visit 6-12 after treatment to evaluate the progress of healing.
You may have been placed on an antibiotic after treatment or been instructed to continue with antibiotics prescribed by your general dentist. Please take these medications as prescribed.
If you have any questions please feel free to call our office at 859-780-2550.