So far in my life I’ve been lucky enough not to have a whole lot of stuff done to my teeth. I’ve had some fillings, had to have some teeth pulled before getting braces (not enough room in my mouth for all my teeth), and that’s pretty much it.
About a month ago I noticed that one of my old molars, which had a large filling in it, had become quite sensitive to cold things, so I made a trip to the dentist and was told that I needed a crown put on it. Last week I went in to start the process. Turns out there was a crack in the tooth that the dentist said went all the way to the nerve, so she drilled out as much as she could and set me up with the temporary crown. She told me the sensitivity could stay around for a while, since the tooth gets “aggravated” with so much drilling on it and joked that just about the time it starts to feel normal again, it’ll be time to put the permanent crown on :).
I haven’t had any cold or heat sensitivity to the tooth at all now, but sometimes it will ache a bit off and on, for no reason that I can ascertain. Is this normal, or should I be calling the dentist again? Since I’ve never had this done before, I don’t really know if it’s to be expected or not. Dentists make me real nervous, so I’m hoping to have to make as few visits as possible ;).
I’d love to hear about y’alls experiences with this.
I’ve currently got five crowns in my mouth (I’ve got the best tooth enamel genetics in the world. Despite brushing after each meal, flossing regularly and the like, I’ve managed to end up with five root canals and crowns in my 30 years).
The last ones were done last June/July. They were sensitive for quite a while - even now I’ll occasionally get a twinge back there, but it doesn’ t last long. The biggest deal with all of them were occasional, rare aches. There was nothing that seemed to set them off, and those have stopped.
If you are worried, give your dentist a call. All the ones I’ve had were more than willing to answer questions, especially about major dental work like crowns.
Lord. I joke that I have more crowns than Queen Elizabeth. I have, let me count, 5 crowns and 3 onlays. Fortunately I also have good dental insurance. Yes, your toof will be sensitive, and I experience sensitivity even with the permanent crowns on. You have had the worst part done. The prep work is by far the most awful. I would assume you have had the impression taken for the permanent. If not, you’ll have to go back again. Takes about 2-4 weeks for the lab to make the permanent. When it’s time for the permanent crown, you will get Novocaine, the temp will be taken off, the toof cleaned, and the permanent crown glued on. This glue is mighty strong and mighty stinky. And you might be ouchy for the remainder of the day. Remember that even though the crown goes down to the gum, there is the possibility of a minute, hairline itty bitty (if you’re lucky there won’t be), part of the original tooth that is still exposed. You can’t even see it, it’s so microscopic. But you need to floss carefully and I use a prescription fluoride toothpaste at night and get fluoride treatments at my twice-a-year cleaning. You can still get a cavity there. Don’t be afraid of the dentist. Why are people afraid? I tend to fall asleep in the dental chair.
I’ve got 4 crowns, and haven’t given them a second thought since they went in 7 years ago. Just make sure your dentist is skilled at doing the color/size matching and whatnot. The dentist who put mine in did an amazing job, so that every dentist I’ve been to since has remarked how natural and wonderful they look. If you’ve ever seen someone with bad crowns, you can tell (a friend of mine has two up front, and they’re noticeably whiter than the surrounding teeth). But then again if it’s a molar it probably doesn’t matter so much; mine are the top four front teeth – like Lsure my enamel ain’t so great.
I have 4 crowns, and a 5th I am supposed to start soon. I find mine are especially uncomfortable the first few weeks, but they get better with time. Some don’t bother me at all ever again after three months or so. My last one which was done in October still aches a bit from time to time. If that is all the trouble you are having, I would say you’re doing pretty good. I never waited for the permanent crown more than 3 weeks, though, because that wrecks your gums all over again.
Lsura, your experience sounds like my mom’s. She got shafted in the tooth enamel department and has had a huge amount of work done. My father, on the other hand, is 73 years old, has all his own teeth and has had exactly one root canal. And he smokes, too, so go figure.
peedin, the dentist makes me nervous because of a traumatic childhood experience (lots of pain) and because I had a dentist at the time who was not so good with explaining what he was doing. It feels threatening to me to be lying down with my head back and people hovering over me sticking weird things in my mouth and not telling me what they are doing to me. At least as an adult I get to pick my own dentist.
peepthis, my crown is in the back, so no one is going to see it without really looking. It’s actually more attractive now even with the temporary on than it was before - I had a huge silver filling in there. Amazing how much nicer they can make things look these days.
I appreciate you relating your experiences to me. Unfortunately I don’t have any dental insurance at all, so I hope things go smoothly when the permanent crown arrives at the end of the month. When I heard how much this was going to cost I was like:
Looks like I have the record for crowns. I have 26 (!!!) crowns, The reason is that I break my teeth. My dentist says I have the strongest bite he has ever seen; coupled with somewhat brittle enamel = shattering teeth. I have two upper molars still uncrowned…and my wisdom teeth were taken out long ago.
Oddly enough, I have very healthy gums, and have had few cavities.
As far as sensitivity, apparently the nerve endings that are in the dentine (enamel has none) receed away from the surface. This takes several days to occur. This explains why teeth that have either been broken or drilled are more sensitive to touch and temperature and pressure at first, and then the strength of the stimulus fades.
So you should expect the permanent crown to be sensitive at first, but not as sensitive as when the temporary was put in. It should become more comfortable very soon, as it is actually the shape of the former tooth, and is a much better match than the generic temporarty crown that was put on.
I’ve got 6, I think. Four in the last couple of years.
Modern dentistry is great. I literally felt no pain, at all, in the course of getting the most recent crowns. I think they don’t use novacaine that much anymore, which never really worked completely for me. My dentist used procaine.
I’m in the process of having a couple crowns done now. I experience a lot of anxiety at the dentist- like to the point that I’ll leave mere consultations crying. During the last bout of dental work, they gave me Xanax and let me wear headphones. It really really helps me stay calm. Xanax is pretty darn strong though, they won’t let you drive home after taking it.
I have only one crown, on a back lower molar. Never had any problem with sensitivity at all. But the prior work really sucked. They had to grind a quarter inch of my jaw off to ensure a good set of the crown. That was the worst dental experience I have ever had.
Thanks everyone for relating their experiences. I have to say that pain during the initial procedure was not much of a problem, though I did need to get shot up again in the middle of things because the procedure was lasting longer than the anesthetic. I am glad that part is over, though. Sitting with the impression-making goop in my mouth was not fun - for some reason it made me salivate and since I couldn’t swallow, I was a real drool factory for awhile there until they could take the mold out. It had to be stuck way back in my mouth because I still have my wisdom teeth, so that wasn’t real comfortable.
I think I have figured out at least part of the reason why I am having the on-and-off aches. I had noticed them mostly at night, like if I wake up in the middle of night and again when I wake up in the morning. I thought at first I might be clenching my teeth or something, but this morning when I woke up I was lying on the same side as where the crown is and I was actually pushing the side of my tongue into the sides of my teeth. The other teeth don’t care about this, but the crowned one isn’t too happy about it. And I have no idea why I am doing this. I guess I’ll just try to sleep on my back for awhile.
even sven, interesting that you were given Xanax. All I’ve ever been offered is nitrous oxide. Ick, ick, and ick. The smell of it makes me want to throw up.
Heh. I just had impressions made for my first crown yesterday, and I’m glad to find out I’m not the only one who drooled all over myself while waiting for it to set.
I’ve got two of them. They are great. Sure beats digging deeper and deeper to refill cavities that originated in childhood. They aren’t cheap, though.
The first temporary crown did hurt, but only because, as it was discovered when removing it for the permanent crown, that it had broken. Once I got the crown, the sensitivity gradually eased over a month. The second one did not bother me, only minimal sensivity.
It’s been 9 years since my last crown, but I do remember the dentist having color strips, or something, to match the crown to your natural tooth enamel.
My dentist had those color strips too. It did occur to me that once the permanent is on, I’m more or less stuck with that color. So no tooth whiteners for me!
Has anyone gotten a gold crown, or don’t they do those any more?
Both of my front teeth have been replaced by crowns (gym accident in 5th grade). I had partial crowns on them for a few years then had those replaced with full crowns. One was done 27 years ago and the second about 20 years ago. No one knows they are crowns unless I tell them. The colors still match my other teeth pretty well. Although it isn’t too much of a problem, my gums have receded some over the years so the base of the first one is kind of an odd color because that part isn’t supposed to be seen. Other than that, they have served me well over the years.
I also have had 3-4 molars replaced by crowns. No big problems with those either although every once in a while the base of a couple of them feel sensitive when I brush my teeth.
I broke my back bottom left molar today on - of all things - a dried apricot. My brand new dentist was very sweet and saw me with no warning, and says I have to get a crown. My first. He’s also recommended a gold crown, since it’s in the back, gold is sturdier (he says), and it’s also cheaper. Even with my dental insurance, I’ll be shelling out over $300.
I got 5 gold crowns in the back molars about 2 or 3 years ago. I went gold because they will never break (unlike porcelin crowns) therefore delaying any future visits to the dentist regarding those 5 molars. With insurance, I still had to pay $600/per crown instead of $300/crown for porcelin, but I figure that I would save the money in the long run. Go for the gold if going for molar crowns; especially if your young and have quite a bit of life left in you.
Sounds like good advice Yeticus. I hope it will be a long while before I have to do any more of this stuff though. I don’t have insurance and it’ll be taking me awhile to pay off just this one.
