Expert: Mark Bornfeld DDS - 12/20/2007

Question
Hi,
I just had a perm. crown put on my lower tooth left side i wanna say number
19. The perm crown looked big and felt big until the dentist shaved it down.
She then adjusted for it with my bite by shaving it down. She got to a certain
point where she said i do not want to shave it down anymore so i am going to
adjust the tooth above it. Now the tooth that was shaved hurts. I had this
done yesterday. The tooth with the perm. crown aches when i bite. I hope that
means its still healing from the trauma of the pressure of getting that crown
put in. It did kind of bother me when she said tell me do you think the crown
is in all the way. She did no x-rays to check. Is it normal for a tooth that has
been shaved to adjust the bite to hurt more then crowned tooth the day after?
Is it normal for a crown tooth to still ache a day after?

P.S. the crown tooth was Root canaled. Thank you for your time.

Answer
Dear Adam,

Although the postoperative course of a crown cementation varies, it is certainly not unusual for there to be some discomfort-- the excess cement must be cleaned out from under the gum, which can inflict minor injury, and of course there was that period where the bite was "high", which could by itself explain why both #19 and the opposing tooth are sore now.

Now that the bite has been corrected, you should monitor the teeth for any changes in the severity of the symptoms. Ideally, you should see a definite improvement within one week. If not, you should return to your dentist to re-examine the situation.

Hope this helps...

Mark Bornfeld DDS
www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY