Root Canal Treatment and Oral Hygiene: Maintaining a Healthy Mouth After the Procedure

A root canal is not the most liked dental treatment, although they are renowned for eliminating tooth pain to save your tooth. Root canals aren’t frightening as they seem, but if you had one, why invite another infection to endure similar discomfort?

If you want to prevent another root canal, you must about caring your oral health after the endodontic procedure to avoid problems later. The dentist near you performs safe and painless root canals to help restore your smile.

When tooth nerves sustain injuries or infections, root canals help eradicate the infection to eliminate the pain you experience. To achieve this goal, the dentist removes the dental pulp, including the tissue and nerves inside your tooth. Therefore, you must care for the tooth and keep your mouth healthy while speeding your healing.

To assist you with your recovery, we have gathered some details on root canals and how to exercise caution to ensure proper care of your teeth and gums as you heal from the procedure.

What to Expect When Undergoing a Root Canal?

When you arrive for your appointment with the root canal dentist to eliminate the excruciating pain in a specific tooth, expect the dentist to x-ray your tooth to evaluate the extent of the damage within. If you think root canals are painful, the dentist dispels your fears by applying a topical numbing gel to your gums before injecting local anesthesia near the affected tooth to block pain impulses from it and your gums.

To start the process, the dentist drills an access hole in the tooth to expose the infected or inflamed dental pulp. After exposure, the dentist removes the pulp and cleans the inside of your tooth, besides disinfecting it. Next, they fill your tooth with a unique biocompatible rubber-like material, gutta-percha, and seal the access hole in your tooth with a temporary filling.

Depending on your situation, the dentist recommends you restore the tooth with a dental crown after the procedure to strengthen the tooth structure.

Managing Discomfort After A Root Canal

You can expect discomfort after four or six hours of receiving a root canal. The dentist is also aware of this phenomenon because the pain results from wearing off the anesthesia, making you experience the discomfort of the procedure. However, the pain is not similar to the discomfort you felt before receiving and results from the treatment, not the infection within your tooth. Dentists prescribe or recommend painkillers to help alleviate your pain and suggest using ice packs on the cheeks to relieve swelling. You also receive suggestions not to eat scalding, spicy, crunchy, and chewy foods and refrain from consuming alcohol or smoking.

Other tips dentists provide include:

• Waiting for the Anesthesia to Wear off before Eating: you must allow the numbness of the anesthesia to subside before trying to eat anything to nourish yourself. The prevention is to ensure you don’t bite your cheeks or tongue or swallow hot beverages that might burn your throat.
• Seek Help for Swelling: some swelling after root canal treatment in Oxnard, CA, is expected, but if it doesn’t subside, you must contact the provider immediately because it might indicate infection or allergic reactions to the anesthesia. However, you must wait at least 72 hours for the swelling to subside and contact the dentist only if it doesn’t.

Can a Brush My Teeth like Normal after a Root Canal?

You can brush your teeth like normal after receiving a root canal to eliminate the infection in your tooth. However, you must remain cautious near the treated tooth to ensure you don’t dislodge the temporary filling placed by the dentist until you get your tooth restored with a dental crown. You must also follow your dentist’s instructions to speed up your recovery.

Can I Gargle after a Root Canal?

Yes, you can gargle after a root canal, but you shouldn’t use mouthwash brands purchased over the counter because most contain alcohol harmful to your treated tooth. Instead, dentists suggest using a salt water rinse containing antiseptic properties to gargle three to four times daily for a few days after your root canal.

You should recover from the procedure within a week but must prepare for additional dental visits to your regular dentist to restore the tooth with a dental crown which takes another three weeks to have a customized restoration over the treated tooth to help its function like your remaining teeth.

When you diligently follow your dentist’s after-care instructions, you can use the root canal-treated tooth for many years. However, maintaining a healthy mouth soon after the procedure is crucial to help your recovery and safeguard the tooth.

Dentistry by Sea Bridge performs many root canals on patients complaining about excruciating pain in a specific tooth. They perform the treatment safely and painlessly to ensure the patient preserves their natural tooth instead of getting it extracted. If you need a root canal, they also provide appropriate after-care instructions for your tooth and mouth after the procedure.