Dental crown / root canal

Hi all,

I have had a dental crown on my front top tooth for around 5 years now, this is the second one and I think it is PFM. On Thursday I started to have some discomfort with the crown, it was sensitive around the back gum line. I booked an appointment at the dentist and saw him today. He took some x-rays and told me I may need a new crown fitted (which is what I originally thought as I believed that the cerement had worn away from under the crown). He also hit the bottom of the crown and asked me if this caused any pain, and it didn't all.

However, I have to wait for over a week until I go back and get my test results, so I am getting quite worried as I have read a lot about dental crowns needing root canal treatment, what are the chances of me needing this treatment? (My dental cap was placed due to my chipping the tooth, not because of decay).

My gums around the tooth also feel irritated.

Please help me put my mind at ease! Many thanks!

[xdunlapx]

Just because you have a crown doesn't mean you need a root canal. If the tooth is dead ir dieing inside you will need a root canal. The x-ray would have showed the tooth dieing I think so if you have the x-rays and the dentist didn't say anything about it then you should be fine. It could just be that the wearing away of the cement on the crown is irritating your gums somehow. Not sure. Ask your dentist if you will need a root canal treatment. I had a root canal treatment in my last upper left molar and did not feel any pain at all during the treatment. So if you do need one don't be afraid of pain as it's usually very well controlled now-a-days. I did have a crown placed over the endodontically treated tooth as there wasn't much good tooth left after a huge cavity.