Did My Dentist Screw Up My Crown?

November 9, 2011 7:40 AM

A rear molar (#30 for you dental fans) had a chip missing but was otherwise asymptomatic but my dentist recommended a gold crown before the tooth broke and caused greater problems. I followed his advise and while wearing the temporary crown I noticed a new, distinct and very painful sensitivity to cold. He dismissed it as a fluke and installed the permanent crown, but the sensitivity remains and now I can't eat anything frozen without agony. He x-rayed the tooth and found no structural issues, nor did he find any leaks in the seating. He claims that the problem is just routine cold sensitivity and advised aggressive fluoride, but with no prior problem isn't it more likely that he screwed up something and, if so, what?
posted by Jamesonian to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

I can't chew ice cream with my gold molar in back. The metal conducts heat too well. Makes me disinclined to eat ice cream with nuts or anything else that requires chewing.
posted by Ery at 7:53 AM on November 9, 2011

What Ery said, but also, my dentist has commented more than once that doing any kind of work on my teeth tends to make them "act up." It's been sadly common for me to start with a filling or a partial crown for an asymptomatic tooth, start having serious pain, and end up with a root canal. I don't know why this happens, just that it's something my teeth seem to do--it's like waking the sleeping dragon. My dentist takes this tendency into account when deciding whether and when to do work on my teeth, it has happened so often.

I wish I could explain the underlying process for you, but somehow it has never occurred to me to ask my dentist if he has any theories about why this happens.
posted by not that girl at 8:07 AM on November 9, 2011

This happened to me but the sensitivity slowly decreased and is now not noticeable. Don't know why.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 9:05 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]

Where exactly is the initial contact point of that sensitivity? If it is at the base of the tooth (where it meets the gumline), it could be due to enamel abrasion - this can happen when the tooth is shaped to accept a crown. The remedy in that case is for the dentist to bond a layer of resin at the base in place of the abraded enamel. That would isolate the exposed tissue and the sensitivity would stop. Again, that depends entirely on where the sensitivity is coming from.
posted by VikingSword at 12:46 PM on November 9, 2011

Every single tooth that I have had crowned, has become painfully sensitive within days, and then as a followup, required a root canal. The last crown I had done, my dentist just put the crown on with a temporary bond, so I could go get the root canal done without the endodontist having to drill through the nice new crown. My understanding is that some people's mouths are just this way.
posted by Joh at 3:37 PM on November 9, 2011

Every time my teeth are worked on --especially crowns -- they become incredibly sensitive. I have a temporary crown on one right now that is driving me crazy. But the sensitivity goes away about a month later. This might turn out to be the case for you too.
posted by mmoncur at 12:21 AM on November 10, 2011