I had a root canal completed back in September 2008 by a very skilled endodontist. The tooth is a bottom molar that already had a crown on it from years ago. My ordinary dentist had already performed a root canal on the tooth in April 2008, going straight through the top of the crown to preserve it. The tooth did not settle and still had nerve pain pulsating through it every so often so I was sent to one of the best endodontists in the city. He found nerve tissue in the tooth because I had something called calcified blockages which were very difficult for my ordinary dentist to reach. Anyway, the endodontist completed the work back in September last year. My problem is that when the tooth is touched, even very lightly on the front side it is very very tender, almost feels like a bad bruise. I also have this same sensation on the top back rim of the tooth (the rim nearest my throat), although the rest of the tooth feels fine to push (except the front). The weird thing is I have full chewing power on this tooth. I can chew anything and have no discomfort. So basically pushing down on the tooth with food in my mouth doesn't hurt, but pushing the front of it sideways sends me through the roof. The endodontist has checked occlusion thoroughly and has determined everything there is fine. He told me a root canalled tooth can be tender for a while when pushed in the "across direction" rather than the "down direction" (if that makes sense) but this has been going on for 6 months now and I really want the feeling to go away! Even if I run my thumb over the skin on the outside of my face down there, I can feel it because it's making contact inside on the front side of the tooth. My question is if the crown was replaced, could it help this feeling, both on the front of the molar and also on the top back rim. Could the root canal process build up some sort of pressure in the crown which is contributing to this feeling and stopping it from going away? Or would having a crown already on the tooth when the root canal was done have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on this bruised feeling?