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I had a nasty tooth that was causing some terrible pain.
Like I'd choose child birth over the pain the tooth was causing.

I had a huge cavity and the nerve was exposed. xp

I've been in pain for the better half of the month.

But it's been fixed thankfully, it's still tender but nowhere near as bad.

Has anyone here had a root canal before?
Give me bits of wisdom cause this is uncharted territory for me, I've had extractions and fillings but I've never had one of these done before.

How long will it be sore?
What stuff did you eat aside from soup and mashed taters?

I have had 4 -5 root canals.

My advice:

1. Always take a good multi-vitamin every day.

2. You'll be sore for about a week or so after you have a root canal. You can take some Ibuprofen for pain.

3. Stuff you can eat ---> pudding, jello, mashed potatoes, soup, really anything that's soft.

4. Remember to floss real good after meals besides brushing your teeth.

5. Use ACT Restoring mouthwash.

I've had 2 root canals done. My first experience was terrifying and my second was blissful.

I have a unique condition where Novocaine doesn't really work on me... so getting my first one done was a world of hurt for me (it also didn't help that my first tooth had two roots and it completely baffled them). So, determined to not go through that again, I opted to get out out for my second one! blaugh

For edible food stuff, scrambled eggs is also an option- that became my favorite food when I got my wisdom teeth out.

It's gonna be really weird at first having a gap in your teeth, but don't worry about running your tongue over it, as long as you aren't actively pressing into it and stuff. The crown you get will take a week or two to get used to. Definitely take ibuprofen for the pain, especially if you're still bleeding a little (pain killers like Tylenol are blood-thinners, so you don't want those).

Ouch, ouch, ouch! x -x;
I haven't had a root canal done, but got wisdom teeth pulled about a year ago. Oh wow, like a year and a half ago. XD; I had killer pain during the healing process. I thought the pain my teeth were causing was the worst it could get, but it got worse.
Anyway, I was on a soft diet for a looooong time. XD That sucked. Meals quickly become repetitive. u -u; I still have a list of soft foods in my phone.

Some other foods to consider:
sweet potatoes
grits, polenta, cream of wheat, oatmeal, etc
stuffing
apple sauce
yogurt
cottage cheese
Ensure, any sort of meal-replacement drinks

And maybe rice, spinach, macaroni and cheese (or any kind of noodles), ice ream and fruit smoothies as you heal and can tolerate a bit more chewing (and cold temps).
Also! XD If you have a good blender, anything can be diced into pieces that don't require much chewing. I eventually put some cooked meat in a blender (a few times) just so I could taste something different. It looks and sounds disgusting... buuuut~ tasted soooo good.