Pain after permanent crown placement

[ny23]

Two weeks ago I had a permanent crown placed on a lower molar following a root canal procedure done six months prior.  Since the permanent crown was placed, I began to experience pain in the tooth which I did not have with my temporary crown.  At any given moment, the tooth could be relatively pain free with only some biting discomfort to severe pain during and after chewing on the affected side.  These symptoms are not consistent and change hour by hour.  For example, applying direct force to the top of the crown with my finger may or may not produce pain depending on what “mood” my tooth is in.  My dentist examined the crown and said that everything was fine, granted I saw him three days ago when I was nearly pain free.  He said that I may be experiencing neuralgia secondary to the new biting forces on the crown and I should observe it.  Now the pain is back again and it seems that it may never go away.  Is this normal?!

[Matthew Baron, D.M.D.]

It sounds like the bite or occlusion is off from what you are describing.  This happens but is not normal and should be adjusted, you should not have any pain.

[mike1105]

i would suspect that either the bite is "high" and needs to be adjusted, or perhaps taken out of occlusion entirely (although just ever so slightly) or your tooth may have a fracture/crack. cracks occur in root canal teeth much more frequently than vital teeth because they become brittle due to removing the nerve and hence the blood supply from the tooth. The tooth may have been cracked for a while (perhaps even before the root canal was done) and only now are you feeling it because you are able to put pressure on it since your crown was designed to come into contact with the opposing tooth. Many times, cracks are not visible on x-rays, and manifest themselves only with pain upon biting or pressure. later on, an abcess (abscess) may appear on a film--sometimes months and months later......