A few weeks ago, I decided to replace two crowns on my upper left side of my mouth. I was getting food trapped between a large space between the two old crowns. My dentist gave me temporary crowns for three weeks while I waited for my permanent crowns to be created.
Unfortunately for me, week three of wearing the temporary crowns was miserable. The temp crowns smelled and I was in pain. My dentist assured me the pain would dissipate once the new crowns were cemented in my mouth.
I did not experience relief from the pain. Instead, the pain only increased in the days following the placement of the permanent crowns. I saw the dentist again and was told that my bite might be ‘off’ a bit. My dentist did a little drilling to fix the bite and I have noticed that I now hurt in that area. The pain comes and goes and it hurts to chew on the side where the dentist drilled to fix the bite. Is this common? I was assured I don’t need a root canal. What are your thoughts?
– Thomas from Oklahoma
Thomas,
You may experience different types of pain when you wear temporary crowns or have a new crown. Some pain is serious and other forms of pain are not. It’s important you know what pain is okay and what pain requires further attention.
Temporary crowns are better when they are worn less than three weeks. You mentioned in week three that they smelled and hurt. The reason for this is that they were starting to leak and microscopic particles were getting between your teeth and the temporary crowns. These trapped particles also cause pain because they are in direct contact with the porous dentin of your teeth and cause irritation.
Your dentist should’ve explained to you what would happen when your crowns were cemented. When cementing is done, this may cause further irritation and sensitivity may increase immediately after the crowns are done. This should gradually subside and wane. However, if the pain doesn’t go away, the tooth may be too irritated and might need a root canal treatment.
If you’re feeling pain when you chew, this is may be a separate issue and your bite might need to be adjusted until your bite is comfortable. There’s a tiny possibility all the work on your teeth may have caused the pulp in one or both of the teeth to die, which would irritate the ligament that holds the tooth in.
It would be wise to have a checkup and ask that the roots of these teeth be X-rayed to ensure everything is okay.