If you have a root canal coming up soon, it is important that you understand what the recovery process is going to be like. Here are three things that you need to know about the root canal recovery process.

#1 Wait To Eat Until The Numbness Wears Off

When you have a root canal, the dentist is going to numb your mouth around the area where your surgery is being done. This is going to cause your check and tongue to feel numb and weird. Luckily, this feeling will not last long and should wear off in the hours following your surgery. 

Do not try try eat anything until the numbness in your mouth wears off. Attempting to eat before it wears off could result in you biting your check or tongue and will cause additional injury to your mouth. This can all be avoided by having a little patience. 

#2 Don't Chew On The Treated Tooth

The second thing that you need to realize is that you are not going to want to chew on your treated tooth that just underwent a root canal. This area is going to be really sensitive. Most likely, following your root canal, a temporary crown will be put over the surgical site. This will help protect the work that was done on your tooth.

However, a temporary crown is not that strong. To really protect your teeth, you need to chew your food on the opposite side of your mouth from where your root canal was performed. This will help protect your tooth as it heals. You should also avoid eating hard foods while your tooth is healing; try to stick to soft food while your mouth heals.

#3 Schedule A Follow-Up

You are going to need to schedule a follow up with your dentist after you have the procedure done. You are going to need to have a permanent crown made to replace the temporary crown or cap that was placed over your tooth to protect it. 

Make sure that you have time in your schedule to go and do this. Most likely, your dentist is going to want your tooth to heal  before they start working on your permanent crown, so your appointment will probably be about a week after your root canal.

Right after your surgery, your mouth is going to be numb. Don't worry, this feeling will wear off. When you eat, try to keep the food on the other side of your mouth and schedule a follow up for a crown to go on your tooth where the root canal was preformed.