dental crown problems

[suki88]

I had a molar prepared for a crown three weeks ago. I was unable to chew on the temporary crown for the entire time because it hurt and felt like I was chewing on tin foil. There is hot and cold sensitivity but my teeth are sensitive anyway. The real problem is that I can't chew without discomfort. My dentist saw me twice and said that the tooth should 'settle down' and that my nerve was 'irritated.'
She placed my permanent on with temporary cement a couple of days ago but there was no change..I still can't chew. Everyone I talk to, including my parents's dentist, say that I should not have this much pain when I chew. I can bite my teeth together with no pain but once there is food in there...OUCH!
My dentist did not schedule me to see her for two weeks. Frankly I don't understand the logic is making me wait another two weeks with this discomfort??? Is this normal?I don't know what to do but I am rapidly losing my trust that my dentist knows what she is doing. Should I ask for a referral to a specialist at this point. Please help..I am really stressed about this.
Thank you for your time
H

[Jerome Bogin, D.D.S.]

I too agree that there is too much discomfort at this point. It sounds like the crown is loose or not fitting correctly. At this point you should be able to bite on it. Certainly you are not going to permanently cement it with these symptoms. I don't know what kind of specialist you are talking about. If you mean an Endodontist(root canal) it may solve the discomfort but I don't know if the crown is fitting.If you are losing confidence then a consultation with another dentist might be a good idea.

[mike1105]

you should insist the dentist see you sooner to check your situation. the nerve could be irritated reversibly or irreversibly. did your dentist check the bite? if you do not have improvement in a reasonable time period, and you are losing confidence due to the answers you are getting, isee nothing wrong with a referral (preferably from a friend) to their dentist to evaluate the situation. if all is well, sensitivity hould not last more than a few days.

[suki88]

Thank you for your response. When my dentist placed the permanent crown on (with temp cement) she checked the bite. I actually asked her to check it again just to be sure and she said it was fine. During the time I had the temporary crown, I went to her office two times for the discomfort and she never adjusted the bite--even though she checked it with the red paper. So when you say, 'ill-fitting', does that mean someting other than the bite? Could she be missing it all these times?
I called an endodontist yesterday and spoke with a woman there who said it sounded as though the tooth might be fractured. I made an appointment with them.
  I will ask the endodontist to make sure the problem is not an ill-fitting crown. Are they good at detecting such problems? Do endodontists make sure that a root canal is needed before they procede?  
Thanks again for your time.
H

[mike1105]

remember--- root canal specilaists do root canals. i would see another general dentist (based on a good referral from a trusted friend) before i saw a root canal specialist. or you can do both, but do not let them start a root canal till you get another opinion from a general dentist who does alot of crown and bridge. "Ill fitting" could mean a slew of things from poor margin (edge) adaptation to a crown that simply does not fit well on the tooth....maybe the lab did a poor job. did the dentist have to adjust it alot before it was cemented>???  if so, that's a sign perhaps that it is "ill fitting"...  i still suspect a problem with the nerve in  the tooth, though...... remember god did not intend for teeth to be drilled down. so when this happens, sometimes the nerve can't take it and it lets you know about it. it may be that the nerve is cllose to being exposed-- ie the nerve may be very close to the surface now that the tooth was drilled down....   good luck. this should be your worst problem in life... at least it's correctable.

[NeedaCompetentDentist]

I’ve been having serious dental problems for almost a year now.
I’ve had 2 upper molar crowns put on with permanent cement twice, for the same 2 teeth.  The reason for this is after the 2 permanent crowns were cemented in place initially and bite adjustments made, the two upper crowns didn’t meet the bottom teeth.

These 2 crowns were not shaped like the teeth they were to replace.  They stuck out over the bottom teeth and instead of ideally meeting the bottom teeth and resting flush over them, they made no contact.  I was in severe pain during the entire procedure.

The temporary teeth hurt so much I had to go on a liquid diet.  I couldn’t chew or eat anything hot, cold or sweet.  The permanent crowns were no better.  They were shaped wrong for my mouth and I had problems with talking, chewing and  hot or cold things.   After 4 bite adjustments, the teeth made absolutely no contact with the lower teeth, but they stopped hurting.  These are back molars so I couldn’t chew on that side.

The pain from that procedure terrified me, but I knew I couldn’t eat with my crowns so I went to a different dentist.  I presented the problem to the second dentist, who said he could fix new crowns that would fit( he didn't hesitate to take my money).  

Before he went to work on the crowns, he had to repair a tooth that had cracked on the same side as the mal fitted crowns.  The cracked tooth was under an old crown that had fit my bite for years.  Suddenly the crown had become high and cracked the bottom tooth.  

After the cracked tooth was repaired, which went relatively well, work started to replace those two crowns.  I had to go to emergency after crown preparation, because I had a mouth abscess at the site where impressions were taken and where shots were given.  I recovered after taking antibiotics.

Finally, the new crowns were ready to put on.  At that time I asked the Doctor to please use temporary cement until we could determine if the teeth were fitting properly.  He frowned at that so I agreed with him to permanently glue the crowns on.  I knew right away that the teeth still didn’t fit right even though at some points they made contact. They still were not at all shaped to fit my mouth.  The last crown was resting on the edge of the bottom tooth, instead of flat on the bottom of the tooth, and that was all!!!

Next the tooth under the last crown had to be repaired due to damage to a filling.  After crown prep for this tooth I had to go to emergency because of gum pain with a diagnosis of gingivitis around that tooth.  It was a gum infection.  I recovered after using medication.

Finally, after the crown was placed on the bottom tooth, the shape on this tooth was like the tooth area it was to replace "minus the edge of the tooth",  the only area that had made contact with the upper crown.  Again I have no contact, not even a tooth edge.        

What can I do???  I’ve been to 2 dentists, and used a lot of money, and suffered a lot of pain.  I had 2 emergency room visits after the second dentist started work on me.  I’ve had a cracked tooth.  I don’t know if it’s related.  I can’t chew on the right side and I’ve been in pain for almost a year now.   I’m totally frustrated.  HELP!!! What can I do?

I'm thinking of a third dentist but are there any good dentists at all anymore?

[NeedaCompetentDentist]

This is an addition to my sad 2 crown story.  My next step is the Attorney General I guess.  Someone has to stop this shoddy dental work.

[sungoddesss]

A related discussion, crown pain was started.

[sungoddesss]

A related discussion, crown pain was started.

[ksd571]

A related discussion, can't find a crown that doesn't hurt was started.