White gum under root canal tooth

[Hopeful607]

I have a molar that has a crown on it and, in January, had a root canal retreatment on the same tooth.  Initially, I did get an infection which was treated by antibiotics, and then was fine.  However, recently (e.g., August), the tooth seems a bit achy (on and off) and the gum line looks white-ish underneath the crown.  The gum is not sore, however, and does not seem imflamed.  Is this white gum normal with a root canal?  Also, can you advise as to why the tooth might have started now (after 8 months) to ache on and off a bit?

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

When was your last dental checkup and cleaning?  If you are overdue for a checkup and cleaning, I would recommend bringing it up with your dentist to evaluate it.

Sometimes there is blanching of the tissue when the crown is cemented in but generally the tissue will adapt to the area, especially after several months.  It may be possible that the crown (if its a pure porcelain crown) is showing through and gives the gums a white shadow underneath as well.

As for your root canal, its possible that another re-treatment or apicoectomy in which they remove a part of the root is necessary.  You should have your dentist take an x-ray and see if there are any signs of infection.  

Sometimes pain can be just caused by the gums and a simple cleaning can fix it.  

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

If an endodontist has evaluated the area and feels that its not urgent for you to see your dentist immediately, I would say it should be fine for the next two weeks.  The pain seems manageable and since the endodontist didn't prescribe any antibiotics, it probably isn't a severe infection.  My guess is that the endodontist wants your general dentist to evaluate the restorability of the tooth to see if reparing the filling will fix the problem versus possibly needing a root canal.  Your general dentist probably needs to look underneath the filling to evaluate it.  

If the symptoms worsen, you may want to push your appointment date.

[Hopeful607]

I was able to get in to see the endondontist who did the root canal -- he took an x-ray and did some tesing of the tooth and did not see any indication of inffection.  He thought that he provblem was the adjacent tooth -- it looked like an old filling had chipped off a bit and that there was a crack in the tooth, and he referred me back to my general dentist.

Unfortunately, I am in the process of changing dentists and do not have my new patient appointment until a couple of weeks hence.  The tooth is throbbing quite a bit (without any provocation) but is not sensitive to chewing or hot/cold. I can probably manage it with ibuprofin but wondered if it is OK to wait that long to have it looked at -- is it likely to turn into something worse if I wait for that appointment?