How many appointments for a root canal

The exact amount of time depends on the difficulty of the treatment, extent of infection, and your unique needs. Most patients find that the recovery from their root canal treatment is faster and more comfortable than expected.

In fact, most patients are able to return to work following endodontic treatment. Post-operative symptoms are mild and usually relieved with over-the-counter pain medications. You can expect to have some tenderness and swelling at the treatment site, but this rarely lasts more than a few days after your root canal procedure. Immediately after your root canal procedure, the treated area will be numb from local anesthetic injections.

This numbness can last for a few hours following the treatment. Once any numbness has subsided, you may eat, but avoid biting or chewing directly on the treated tooth to promote healing and avoid harming the tooth. You should also avoid sticky foods that have the potential to loosen or remove your temporary filling.

Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs. How many dentist visits does it take to get a root canal? But once the inflammation increases and an infection begins, the pain can be intense.

Anaesthetic is used to numb the tooth to be treated, so the only pain is the light sting of the injection. After that, your tooth will be prepped so that the canals can be cleaned of all the infected matter.

Next the canals are dried, treated with medication to heal them and sealed off to protect them during healing.

Anti-inflammatory tablets will help reduce discomfort after the treatment. At your next appointment another local anaesthetic will be used so that the canals can be opened and filled with a special material to retain their structure. If the treatment needs to be carried out over several sessions, your dentist may put a small amount of medicine in the cleaned canal in between visits to kill any remaining bacteria.

If you have symptoms from the infection, such as a raised temperature or large swelling, you may be given antibiotics to help manage and prevent further infection. At your next visit, the temporary filling and medicine within the tooth is removed and the root canal filling will be inserted. Root-filled teeth are more likely to break than healthy unrestored teeth, so your dentist may suggest placing a crown on the tooth to protect it.

In some cases a root-filled tooth may darken, particularly if it's died as a result of injury like a knock to the tooth.

There are several ways your dentist can treat discolouration, such as whitening the tooth using chemicals. A crown is a cap that completely covers a real tooth. It might be necessary to use a crown after root canal treatment to prevent the tooth fracturing. A mould of your tooth will be taken to ensure the crown is the right shape and size, and fits your tooth accurately. If there's only a small amount of tooth left after the root canal treatment, a post can be cemented in the root canal and used to help keep the crown in place.

Find out more about what NHS dental fillings and crowns are made of. Having a crown fitted to the tooth after root canal treatment is important for improving tooth survival rates.