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pain after temporary crown fitted

Hi, about 3 years ago I had root canal treatment done on a molar tooth. This treatment has been OK, with no problems.  Last week I had a temporary crown put on this tooth in preparation for a permanent crown to be fitted. Since the temporary crown has been fitted I have been in constant pain, with an ache. The crown appears to fit well and my bite seems fine. The pain seems to be deep, but I notice the gum is sensitive to the front of the tooth only. The gum also appears slightly swollen, but I'm not quite sure on this one. Is this normal after 10 days? The pain is made worse by eating, but I can apply pressure on the tooth OK. I would go back to my dentist, but he is currently on holidays for 5 weeks. A friend told me to put oil of cloves on the gum, and to my amazement the pain disappeared in under a minute. Any suggestions as to what could be wrong would be appreciated, as I am not sure if the tooth is making the gum painful, or the gum making the tooth react.
16 Responses
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, odontologos bogota was started.
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A related discussion, Teeth Scaling was started.
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A related discussion, My Crown was started.
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Avatar universal
Hello, the pain is a dull ache that comes and goes. Heat, cold and compression do not affect the tooth at all. The pain now is minor ,only about 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. It is now wearing me down as I have had pain for about 2 months. Does a Endodonist have more specialized equipment and expertise to deal with these kinds of problems. The crown that was sitting too high, was on for about 6 weeks. If this was the cause of the pain how long would you expect for the pain to settle?? The pain does seem to have lessened a small amout since the crown was adjusted to the correct height, 3 days ago.

                                   Thanks Mark.
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Avatar universal
Additionally, the ligament around the bottom of the tooth could be very inflamed if it was sitting high for awhile.  You could ask them to take the temporary completely out of occlusion (not touching the other tooth).  That could give the ligament some time to calm down if that's the case.

David Adams, DDS
www.dentalcarebydesign.com
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Avatar universal
I'm sorry you're dealing with this.  Dental pain can be frustrating.  It's very hard to diagnose something like this over the internet without access to radiographs and a clinical exam.  However, if the root canal was done well, the nerve is dead so the pain generally comes from two areas... the ligaments around the tooth or the gums.  Best case, it's still a temporary that's hitting prematurely.  Worst case, it's a fractured tooth. What type of pain is it?  Sharp?  Dull?  Throbbing?  Is the pain coming when you bite something or is it more of a constant pain?  Root canal treated teeth can become fairly brittle after they've been treated and after all of the work that's been put into it recently, it's possible the tooth has fractured down it's length.  This often shows up as pain after biting and releasing.  I would get into your dentist ASAP to get it treated as they can do a complete exam.

Best,

David Adams, DDS
Dental Care by Design
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Avatar universal
Hi Jerome, in reply to you comment dated June 15, I have now returned to my dentist who has returned from his holiday. The crown was way too high and has now been adjusted to the correct fit. My dentist told me all should come good very quickly. It is now 2 days and I am still getting pain. It is nerve pain not toothache. Since this tooth has only been painfull since the temporary crown preparation, I am of the opinion this procedure has upset something. Can this be right? As the tooth has to be reduced in size for the crown I am wondering if the biting side of the tooth, has received damage to the top of the root canals and this is where the pain originates from. Can this happen? I have now been in pain everyday since June 4 and my tolerance is running out. I feel an extraction is the only remedy.

                                            cheers Mark.
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Avatar universal
Hi again, i have returned to my dentist who has now returned from his holiday. The crown was high and has been adjusted to a correct height. My dentist seemed to think all would come good very quickly. Two days later i'm still in pain. I am of the opinion that since the size of the tooth was reduced to accept the crown, that damage has been done to the root canal in some way.Possibly on the biting surface side.  Is this possible? The pain i feel is nerve pain not toothache. I am quickly coming to the conclusion that the tooth will have to be pulled.
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Avatar universal
Crowns are a tried and tested form of dental treatment as countless patients will testify to. There are not usually any problems with a permanent crown but, problems can occur with a temporary crown.

Your dentist will fit you with a temporary crown whilst you are waiting for the dental lab to fabricate your permanent crown. This crown is cemented in place but with a much less stronger form of cement than used in the permanent one.

The temporary crown is made from plastic and because of this, can sometimes work itself loose.

Because of this your dentist will advise you to take some precautions whilst waiting for your new crown. These include the following:

Avoid any hard chewing or sticky food: this means avoiding hard foods such as carrots or chewy sweets such as toffee!
Minimise the load on the crown: by this we mean avoid too much chewing on the side of the mouth which contains the temporary crown. Try and eat on the other side of your mouth only.
Take care when brushing and/or flossing your teeth: be careful when doing so as you may pull the crown off the tooth.
If you have any pain in your tooth or gums or if you notice that your tooth is unusually sensitive, contact your dentist.

Prosthodontics Seattle
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Avatar universal
Hello :) if you want to visit a clinic.. visit ours at Philippines, Mandaluyong named Dental Implants Manila
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8552868 tn?1398672490
Hello friends..
I think it is due to the poor fitting of teeth.So I will suggest you to again go to the clinic and consult about this to your dentist.
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Avatar universal
Gums seem much better after a week. Tooth however continues to ache. It is a dull continuous ache. Will give it a few more days and if no improvement, will phone the fill in Dentist. I would have thought all should be well by now.
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Avatar universal
I have managed to get an appointment with the relief dentist and was happy to be told all was well with the tooth and crown. The problem seems to be with the GAP created when the original tooth was made smaller for the crown. The Temporary crown does not fill this GAP between the tooth and the preceeding tooth. The gum here is inflamed, probably because of food that is been pushed downwards when I chew. I have been given a special gell to apply and all should come good. Thanks for your help and I will keep you informed.

                                     Cheers Mark
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Avatar universal
Temporary crowns are normally worn for only a week or two.  I agree that the fit is probably the problem.  Does your dentist have a colleague on call that could make you a new temp crown?  If not try to chew as much as possible on the opposite side of your mouth, and keep the area very clean by brushing and flossing.  Warm salt water rinses may also help.
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Avatar universal
I intended to have the permanent crown fitted on my dentists return in 5 weeks
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540545 tn?1377622918
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It sounds like the gums are inflamed, possibly due to a poor fit or excess cement trapped around the crown causing an irritation.  

I'm surprised they put you in a temporary for 5 weeks.  When are you planning to put the crown permanently in?

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