Crown necessary for upper last tooth? Crown too thick!

[skittles88]

I had a root canal done on my last upper right tooth, and the dentist told me I must get a crown.  Now I'm totally regretting because the new crown feels very thick and the dentist doesn't want to replace it saying it's suppose to be like that so the tooth will be strong!  Was it really necessary to crown my tooth in the first place?  It was supposedly dead.  But I don't really use the last tooth to bite things!  Also is there any way to shave the permanent crown so it's not too thick without damaging it?  It's not comfortable and I've had it for 2 weeks already.  The dentist even asked me to pay $45 extra because I supposedly did not bite well the first time so he had to use another mold (this was when he took the mold to make permanent crown, and not that he did a 2nd crown).  
Although it's already done, I still want to know the answer, maybe it will make me feel better.  Thanks!

[ArzooNasiry]

I hope you're getting used to your crown.  When I first got mine it felt very foreign, but I eventually got used to it.  A little bit of adjustments by the dentist can be done, but a lot of adjusting can damage the crown.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Most of the time a crown is recommended.  Sometimes you can avoid a crown on a front tooth if there's no structural damage but usually a root canal is indicated when the nerve is damaged/infected which is at the center of the tooth so usually a cavity or crack would have to get deep enough to injure the nerve.  But there are some cases were the nerve dies but there's no visible problem with a cavity or crack.

[skittles88]

Was it really necessary for me to have that crown done, or my dentist was just scaring me that it will crack easily once a root canal is done.  Do most dentist highly recommend after root canal or depends on which tooth?  It seemed pretty strong/solid.  Thanks for your reply.  

[skittles88]

My dentist also told me that some of his patients who had "silver" crowns had GUMS that turned black later and said that if I opted for gold, it would not happen, but I had to pay extra $70. He said it doesn't happen to everyone but he saw it on some of his patients.  I asked if his lab is reputable and he wasn't too happy about it.  Is it true that gums may turn black due to silver mold in crown in some cases? I have other silver molded crowns for 15 years but it has not turned black. Thanks.  

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Porcelain fused to metal crowns which have metal underneath can sometimes discolor or show through the gums over time but the gums themselves don't discolor from the metal as far as I understand it.  Gold just hides it better cause its yellow versus a grey color.  

As for the crown being large, I'm not sure.  You may need to see if you can get used to it but its possible it can be too large for your mouth.  A new crown may be necessary or some minor adjusting to see how it feels/fits.