Re: Sensitivity in 2 teeth beside root canal tooth

wow, I have heard almost all the quotes you cited!
except the one about a root canal that may have been missed and needs
treating.
my #30 had 4 roots removed...i have heard that there are teeth with 5
roots but it is rare...I am pretty sure they didn't get all of the root
out of 1 of my 4, because I could still feel the poking of the tool in
the root when the endo declared he was done.
i think he probably should have kept cleaning that one particular root.
that's my best theory from hindsight.

meanwhile, I have a broken crown on #30 now, and a new prosthodontist
is going to put a new temporary crown on it on Friday...then we are
going to wait a while to see if the sensitivity settles down before
installing a permanent one...
I am pretty glad the porcelain crown broke, because it is allowing new
investigation!

the gum has been inflamed on the inside edge of the crown since it was
installed 2 months ago...I always thought that was strange, and I asked
the prosthodontist if a mis-fitting crown could be responsible for the
sensitivity in the neighboring teeth...he said "there is no scientific
evidence to that extent"...that was an empty statement to me.

another thing he thinks though is that my crown may have been too
high...causing excessive pressure on the tooth when chewing...even if
it didn't feel obviously high, it still could have been too high for
proper mechanics...he is going to make the level lower on the temp he
puts in on Friday...
ALSO most interestingly, he said that porcelain crowns have to sit
higher on the tooth because they have to be thicker by the nature of
the layered design...and a gold crown will not have to sit as high.
when I got my porcelain crown, it was WAY too high and they had to
shave it WAY down to make it work and I think this is why it broke so
quickly.

the weird thing about my sensitivity in #29 and #31 is that it is bad
when hot or cold is first introduced to the teeth but then they settle
down and don't hurt anymore!
but #30 pretty much always hurts, to light pressure or chewing, like
you.

other things the prosthodontist told me to try:
- using Sensodyne toothpaste
- using Clorhexidine rinse for 2 weeks in case the sensitivity is
caused by bacteria

so I will do those things...
but I am really hoping that the crown was just bad and that it caused
all the problems...
if not I guess they will go back into #30 in a couple months and check
on the roots...???

many web sites that say that 70% of root canals fail from infection and
cause systemic problems and they have left me quite fearful...
and I really don't want an extraction because there are a myriad of
other problems that accompany implants (not to mention expense).

well I figure there is one thing worse than having mystery dental
problems, and that is being a dentist!

thanks for your commiseration...hopefully we can both get symptom free,
susan


JimSocal wrote:
On 28 Aug 2006 19:03:44 -0700, "toothfairy" <canyon.falcon@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

hi -
8 months ago, I had to have part of the jawbone between molars #30 & 31
removed because of infection caused by a deep filling in molar #30.
Periodontist also did a crown lengthening procedure at same time,
cutting the gum line down. I had a crown prep done 2 months later by
a dentist and the dentist hit a nerve beside tooth #30 when injecting
novacaine (yes he was injecting right beside the tooth). After that I
had a lot of pain in #30 for 4 months and at end of May they said I
needed root canal of #30 because it must be fractured. I thought maybe
the pain was due to nerve injury from the injection, but no one would
acknowledge this. An endodontist did the root canal May 25 and said it
wasn't fractured. I had an all-porcelain crown placed 2 weeks later.
#30 has not stopped hurting with chewing yet, and about a month ago,
the teeth neighboring it became temperature sensitive...#29 is
sensitive to hot and #31 is sensitive to cold. Those teeth are totally
healthy on x-ray. #30 is not sensitive to either hot or cold, but
still hurts a little with pressure. Endodontist said it is normal for
the root canaled tooth to still hurt after 3 months. Dentist and
Endodontist say they have no explanation for the sensitivity in the
neighboring teeth, and hopefully it will go away eventually, and it
might take a few years! Then today the porcelain crown fractured in
half. Now the dentist wants to put a metal crown...I guess gold...
Before they do this, can anyone help me understand what on earth could
be causing the sensitivity in the neighboring teeth? This has been
such a nightmare!
How bad does the tooth hurt and how sensitive are the teeth next to
it? I am curious because I have a similar - though not so severe -
problem. I will share it with you so that you can see that this does
sometimes happen.

I had a root canal on #30 and then a crown installed. 3 dentists have
looked at the xray of #30 and say the root canal was done perfectly.
yet it is still sensitive when I chew on it and when I tap it even
lightly with my finger.

It has been 8 months and it is STILL sensitive.

What I have been told:
I have been told that sometimes this is "normal" and that it may take
a year or more to "settle down".
And I have been told that it may NEVER settle down.
I have been told that it COULD be a root canal that did not get found
and treated and might have to be re-done at some point.
I have been told I could lose that tooth eventually due to this
problem.
I have been told that I might need to have it re-opened and have the
endo go back in and try to find the problem and fix it.
I have been told to just wait and see what happens, at least as long
as it does not hurt a lot, but is only "sensitive".

So as you can see, I have not been able to get any satisfactory
answers. No one can really know, apparently.

By the way, the sensitivity I am experiencing is not major. It is not
like when you need a filling and root canal and hurts; it does not
really "hurt", it only feels a little uncomfortable when tapped or
when I chew a lot on it. On a scale of 10, 10 being extreme pain, I
would call this a 1 or 2, barely pain at all, just a bit of
discomfort.

My intuition - or maybe I'm just plain pessimistic after all the
dental problems I've had - is that I will end up losing this tooth
within a year or so. I think there is something wrong with it that the
xrays do not show.

Hope your's - and mine - turns out okay, though!

.

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