EWW..Root canal! Help?!
Question:
EWW..Root canal! Help?
I did the first session and I was told to do the rest at a later date...is it good to make the appointment a few days later or wait a week ? (I got the nerves out and now I have a temporary filling)
Answers:
Your dentist should have told you when to return and they should have made the appointment before you left. I wouldn't wait more than a week or two since the temporary filling material will deteriorate leaving you the possibility of re-infecting the canals of this tooth. The second part of a root canal procedure is the "fill" procedure, this is not difficult and is much faster. I'm sure you will do fine with this part of the root canal, the worst is over. Hope I've been of some help and good luck with your procedure.
Additional information: Your dentist may want you to complete your antibiotic therapy prior to sealing the canals of this tooth; some patients must complete two rounds of antibiotics before the root canal is finished to ensure the integrity of this tooth. It will really depend on what your dentist recommends but do call his office so that your appointment for this step can be scheduled in advance since some offices are booked solid for weeks.
In most all cases, it’s advisable that a crown be placed at a later date usually within a month or possibly two depending on the amount of solid tooth structure left after the completion of the root canal. The purpose of this is to give support and strength to the tooth since it has lost its vitality with the removal of the pulp. Root canals therapy may save the tooth from being removed or extracted allowing it to remain functional, but the tooth will eventually become dry, dark and brittle due to the loss of nutrients that the nerve once supplied. Also occasionally a post is required to give the tooth additional strength, but this is not always necessary. You won't notice the "difference" in sensation with this tooth in comparision to your other teeth that haven't had root canal therapy; it may be a non vital or "dead" tooth but it still has the nerve endings from the supporting bone, ligaments and tissue that offer sensation to stimuli.
Hope I've cleared this up for you and once again, good luck!