Expert: Rafael Mosery,D.D.S. - 6/2/2007

Question
Hello Doctor,

I have a tooth in my lower left (one of my molars, but I don't remember the number off hand) that is STILL sensitive to cold/heat and feels sensitive to pressure even though I have went through the following with this tooth:

1)  Filling for a cavity
2)  The tooth still hurt, so I had a crown placed on the tooth.
3)  The tooth still hurt, so I had a root canal done on the tooth.  They did the root canal through the crown (drilling a hole in the top).  Afterward, they put a temp filling there, and 5 days later I had it removed by my dentist and had the permenant filling placed there.

So I'm just baffled as to why this tooth is STILL sensitive even though the nerves in this tooth have been killed and a crown is over the tooth?

Could you please provide some helpful information that may assist me in figuring out what to do next?  Also, I have two other crowns (one on either side of the tooth that is still sensitive), and I'm sure that these teeth are not the ones that are sensitive or painful.  Infact, the tooth that I've had the most work on is the only one that's still sensitive!

Thanks beforehand,
Harold

Answer
Could be an accessory canal that was not treated.A fourth canal.If you want to get to the bottom of this has it checked out by a root canal specialist,an endodontist.The only other thing that comes to mind is it could be an adjacent tooth and you're getting referred pain in the one that had the rct.