After a root canal, dentists suggest you wait until all of the anesthetics wear off. This may take a few hours. Trying to eat while you are still numb can lead to you accidentally biting yourself and not knowing it. Once you have feeling in your mouth again, then you can go ahead and eat soft foods; oatmeal, yogurt, eggs, bananas, rice, etc. Dentists recommend avoiding eating anything crunchy, hard, or even sticky. YES, you can eat a root canal! So, you must be careful to avoid eating anything that might damage your dental work. For at least 3 days, eat softer foods and avoid brushing the tooth that was worked on. You can brush around it, but be careful to not damage the worked-on tooth. After 3 days, your root canal should be good and you should be able to eat solid foods again.