Re: Toothache - crown - no root canal

rockiron@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Here's the issue:
Right lower tooth second to back with newer porchelain crown (~6
months).

Severe tooth ache: Eating, biting, and pressing on it with finger
causes lots of pain. Not doing any thing to it, and it still throbs.
Cold doesn't seem to cause any more pain than no cold.
Advil helps slightly, vicoten es helps but not completely.
Biting down hurts, letting up doesn't hurt.

I had dental work done on the other side of the mouth Friday a
nd a bite block was used on the problem side. There was general
soreness that evening, the next day pain when eating and progressively
worst Sunday and Sunday night.

I am wondering if (biting) the bite block may have caused some trauma
to the tooth and hope that what ever happened it may just get better
w/o the need for a root canal as I under stand a tooth is better
w/ it's nerve / pulp then dead.

Can an x-ray reveal useful information on a tooth w/ a crown?

If the tooth is damaged, can a crown be removed w/o adversely
affecting the tooth or tissue?

What would be a good guestimate as to the problem and solution?

I would hope I could avoid a root canal for the health of the tooth
and of course the $ and fun procedure but am I being realistic that
the tooth may get better reasonably soon by itself or by another
procedure (such as crack repair or such)?

Thanks!


While the mouth prop may have contributed, the severity, trend of sypmtoms and location of the pain suggest the pulp is dying. This may or may not show up on x-ray, depending on how longstanding the problem is.
Sometimes the crown can be popped off, but more usually if a root canal is needed access to the pulp is achieved by drilling through the chewing surface of the tooth.
It isn't really a question of your hopes being realistic or not; it is possible you won't need a root canal, but I don't have a really good feeling about this. The trend of symptoms will be telling, but the tooth should be followed in any case by your dentist. Resolution of the symptoms does not always mean you've dodged the root canal bullet.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001
.

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