Dentist Questions Root Canal Treatment

Should I stay away from certain foods after a root canal?

I'm going to get a root canal next week, but I'm worried about what exactly I can eat after the root canal. I have a party immediately after my appointment (bad planning on my part), and I just want to make sure that my tooth will be okay if I try to eat certain things afterwards. Should I stay away from certain foods? (Obviously I'm not going to to eat a well-done steak after it)

5 Answers

For sure you want to stay away from hard, crunchy or tough foods. After a root canal a tooth becomes brittle and it could brake chewing on hard or tough food.
Most of the time after a root canal, you can eat almost anything you want. However, you should avoid chewing anything hard on the tooth that had the root canal for at least 2-3 days immediately after the procedure, and if the tooth still needs a permanent filling or a crown, you should wait until you get that procedure to resume normal chewing on that tooth.
I advise my post-treatment patients NOT to eat on the Root Canal tooth for a couple of weeks. This is because the ligament around the tooth may be tender due to the newly filled root canal. Biting pressure may cause pain, even though the Root Canal Therapy is complete and well done.
You want to avoid very hard foods on the side of the root canal treatment until a crown is completed. Doing this will prevent fracture which may lead to tooth extraction. Once a crown is placed you need not avoid anything on this side. I hope that this helps.
Avoid chewing hard things like nuts and candies directly on a tooth being treated