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Dental Health  (Expert Forum)
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Bad smell near crown
Answered by
Jerome Bogin, D.D.S. - Dental
Questions in the Dental Health forum are answered by Dr. Jerome Tsang and Dr. Jerome Bogin. Topics covered include bridges, cavities, crowns, and x-rays.
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MedHelp Member's Question

Bad smell near crown

by prabs24, Aug 25, 2005 12:00AM
Hi,

I have a crown in my front teeth(#8). A root canal was performed and then the crown was fitted. Recently I noticed bad breath. After a while I figured out that the source of the bad breath was the gum area right above the crown. If I rub my finger in the gum area just above the crown, it smells really bad. I can even smell it in the floss after I have flossed the crown tooth.

My dentist did the ususl once-every 6 months cleaning but the smell persists. He took an X-Ray and he ruled out any tooth decay and he says that the gums look fine. He sent me to a gum specialist and she too didnt find anything.



At this point both me and my dentist are out of options. I have tried several mouthwash as well as peroxide mixed with water. Juast a few minutes after squishing, the bad smell returns. I am totally down and I just dont feel confident in social circles.



Someone PLEASE help and offer suggestions.



X-Ray shows nothing. But even the floss smells after I have flossed that area. Its just the gum above the crown and not the uper part of the gum(where it connects to my mouth). That part is fine. its only the immediate gum area above crown.



PLEASE help



Thanks
Doctor's Answer

by Jerome Bogin, D.D.S. , Aug 26, 2005 12:00AM
In my experience a odor like you are describing usually comes from a loose crown. The cement has washed out and the bacteria present is the cause of the odor. I would suggest that the doctor look into trying to remove the crown or redoing it. That is not a pleasant odor to be living with.
Member Comments (21)

by alena_ibarro, Aug 25, 2005 12:00AM
have u heard of polident??? its a denture cleanser but can be an effective mouthwash...it can cure bad breath and even removed decay and tartar.....maybe it could help u...hope to hear u soon..

by worriedone4life, Aug 26, 2005 12:00AM
My father just went through the same thing.  He is getting ready for a major surgery and the docs needed to make sure he had no infections in his body.  He went to the dentist 3 weeks ago because he had a similar bad odor coming from the one side of his mouth.  The dentist told him to rinse with a good mouth wash several times a day and try and rinse with peroxide once a day.  I got him to use fluorigard mouthwash and peroxide and he said it seemed to do the trick.  As the previous poster has said, denture cleaner has been known to really thoroughly cleanse the mouth and kill germs and bad breath.  I never personally tried this, but I have been reading up on it and that it has worked well.

by prabs24, Aug 26, 2005 12:00AM
Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all your suggestions. I specifically asked my dentist if there could be a small gap which is causing this smell. But he says that the gap between the crown and gum is 3mm which is within acceptable limits.



He said that the top of the root canal dosent look OK. But he said in that case the symtoms would be different.



I have no pain or nothing and the smell comes only from the boundary between crown and gum and does not come from the top part of the gum.



I have tried all mouthwashes but it dosent help.



Anyone please suggest something..Please....

by letsconnect, Aug 26, 2005 12:00AM
It sounds like that crown needs to be redone. I would get a second opinion.



Regarding the Polident mouthwash thingy, Polident do not produce a mouthwash anymore, and they do not recommend using their denture cleaning products as a mouthwash. Try a chlorine dioxide mouthwash (e. g. OxyFresh, CloSysII, Therabreath, Neways, etc.) instead. They are only available from some dentists, or else via mail order, in the US.

by chrisr, Aug 27, 2005 12:00AM
To: ryn21
I also have a bad odor from gum just behind a crown and root canal tooth (2nd to last right upper molar). Sometimes it flares up and actually pains and all the dentist recommends is to take antibiotics (Doxycycline or Ampicillin) which actually helps but temporarily. Like your dad I am also due for major surgery in a few weeks (OHS)and am very worried about this infected gum. Does anyone else have some comments on a situation like this? Thanks, ChrisR.

by prabs24, Aug 27, 2005 12:00AM
Hi,

I did get a second opinion. The other dentist also says that the crown is perfect. So at this time I am really confused.



Anyone else with any information please help

by alena_ibarro, Aug 29, 2005 12:00AM
maybe u should find some specialists now before its too late....



regarding polident, i didnt know that they dont prodce mouthwash anymore...do u know any product of polident that would probably help pabs??

by prabs24, Aug 30, 2005 12:00AM
Hi,

I did go to another specialist and he is also not sure. I was thinking I would get rid of this crown and get a new one(insurance will not cover it). I thought its worth the money rather than walking around with a bad breath which my friends and co-worklers can possibly smell because it is coming from my front tooth.



But my original dentist says that it is not a good idea to replace the crown. Because first it will cost a lot and I will have to pay. Second, he says that crown has to be broken and there is a good chance that whatever is left of my original tooth inside the crown, may actually fracture while removing the crown and then I will have to have a bridge. That is the worst case scenario.



So at this point basically my dentist has given up.



I couldnt find any denture cleaning mouthwash at Walmart or the grocery store. All were little tablets which you dissolve in water and clean the denture



Prabs

by alena_ibarro, Aug 30, 2005 12:00AM
im sorry to hear that prabs..if u have time u can check this polident.com ...maybe u could see some of their products..hope to hear from u...

by smccullagh, Sep 10, 2005 12:00AM
Is the crown loose in any way? I had something similar when the root below the crown broke and I had that taste in my mouth.

by davmor, Oct 09, 2005 12:00AM
I have just noticed a similar problem. If i rub my finger against the crown, it smells pretty bad. I also notice that there is a thin black line where the crown is cemented, which i just attributed to staining by coffee etc, but am now wondering if it is something i should be concerned about. There is no pain or discomfort. Any suggestions ?

by chickenwing, Oct 26, 2005 12:00AM
I experienced the same problem you were facing, 4 dentists swore that it's fine, refused to replace the "perfect crown" even when i insisted. Thank god, i finally found a dentist who is willing to "remove" the perfect crown, he too tried to dissuade me citing that the crown was "perfect". while he remove the crown, even he can smell the rotting stuffs stucked in the crown. after he removed the crown, he admitted that the crown does not really fit.

You see, sometimes they cannot tell just by looking at the crown, they should listen to us.

You should insist to have it removed.

by MP1, Nov 02, 2005 12:00AM
Hello everyone I'm new here.



In terms of the topic, I have noticed the same issue with one my crowns that was installed like 11 years ago. It's now out of position and ever since this started I've noticed a change of taste in my mouth. And when I floss in that area and smell the floss it has a real intense foul odor.



What I want to is: do any of you that have this problem with your crown happen to have any taste issues like sour mouth when your not eating anything?







by lascelles, Nov 05, 2005 12:00AM
I've had the same problem with a crown and odour.  Paradoxically, the problem went away when I stopped using Listerene mouthwash!  I read an article stating that strong alcohol/antiseptic mouthwashes throw off the natural balance of bacteria in the mouth and I never liked the taste of it anyway.  It took a while; say a week but now there is no odour at all.   I haven't told my dentist about the mouthwash problem yet.   It was the hygenist who suggested using listerine in the first place.

by MinnieM, Nov 05, 2005 12:00AM
In 1995, I had some discomfort under a crowned Root canal tooth (#15).  X-rays at all angles dod not show anything wrong with this tooth nor having 2 DDS check its countour etc. etc.  The pains and smell continued and 6 months later, I begged a female DDS to pry the &*$%^$^%* crown off that tooth.  When she did...the odor was so bad that she and her assistant had to leave the room.  She cleaned it good and called the root canal guy and told him that his root canal had "gone south" and to redo it.....She placed a temporary crown on this 2 days later  (she wanted it to air out) (about 100.00) and the ENDO DDS paid for the new permanent crown after he redid the canal. ...(500.00 back then) I was also placed on 10 days of antibiotics.

by Monkeypants, Nov 07, 2005 12:00AM
Greetings



I have had the same problem with a new crown fitted over an old root canal. When the odour became noticeable, (a few months after the crown) I went in to see my dentist. He replaced the crown and we cleaned everything out very carefully.



The odour returned within a week after the new perfectly fitting crown. I think it comes from the area above the root canal, either in the old tooth or the gum or the bone.  It is definitely not in the root casnal, but above and / or around it.

I am going to get them to drill into the back of the tooth upper jaw or gum and find the infection.It is not something I want to be breathng or carrying around indefinitely.



There are some doctors who think there may be infections that can reside in the dentin tubules inside the old tooth or in the bone. This may be alarmist root-canal fear, or it may be substative.



American Association of Endodontists (http://www.aae.org).

American Dental Association (http://www.ada.org).

Easlick K: An evaluation of the effect of dental foci of infection on health. JADA1984;42:615-686, 694-697.

Grossman L: Pulpless teeth and focal infection. J Endodon 1982;8:818-824.

Grossman L: Focal infection: are oral foci of infection related to systemic disease? Dent Clin N Amer 1960;749-763.

Goldman M, Pearson A: A preliminary investigation of the "hollow-tube theory" in endodontics. J Oral