Root canals are painful procedures that can have an extended recovery time. In order to make sure that you do not damage your teeth further and risk having to undergo a root canal again, you are going to want to make sure that your mouth heals as quickly as possible. Here are some recovery tips for getting through the root canal recovery process.

1. Avoid Eating Anything Until You Have Adequate Sensation in Your Mouth

If you eat anything before the numbness in your mouth has worn off, then you are at risk of doing harm to yourself. You will find it difficult to distinguish between parts of your body and food and might end up accidentally biting your tongue or cheek when trying to chew food. Avoiding eating until you can feel everything that is in your mouth and safely chew is a good way to make sure that you do not inadvertently increase the pain of your mouth.

2. Avoid Chewing on the Side of Your Mouth With the Tooth That Has the Root Canal

When you are eating, you are going to want to avoid the tooth that has had the root canal until it has been fully restored. Many endodontists will restore the tooth immediately after the procedure in order to prevent infection. To make sure that you don't accidentally damage the tooth before it has adequate protection, ask your endodontist after the treatment if you are safe to chew on the tooth.

3. Ice Your Face

After you have had a root canal, you are going to need to make sure that you ice your face. This will reduce the swelling by forcing out the additional fluids and compressing the cells in your face. Reducing the swelling will reduce the tissue that is pushing on the area where the root canal has been performed, allowing the amount of pain that you feel to subside slightly. If ice packs alone are not doing the trick to get rid of the swelling, then consider alternating between hot and cold packs to open the cells and allow the fluids to flow out of your face before compressing the cells with an ice pack.

Your endotontist will be able to suggest sleeping positions and other methods to deal with the pain of your tooth depending on the location where you had the root canal. For more information, contact Dodson Endodontics or a similar location.