Can eugenol cement used on a non-root canalled tooth temporary crown be irritating?

[Annie364]

I had a temporary crown put on LR7 last Monday, a root canalled tooth. I got a really sore jaw afterwards which I think was caused by a combination of things.

The pain has been improving a bit with twice daily aspirin. Yesterday I realised that I'm getting a taste of cloves in my mouth, so my dentist must have used a temporary crown cement with eugenol in it. He did say the necessarily awkward fit on the temporary crown meant it could easily come off, so I could see why some cement is coming out.

- I think eugenol is used to subdue any nerve pain a bit, but can it actually do the opposite, and end up penetrating down and irritating the nerves down in the jaw and/or irritate the ligaments? It's definitely very penetrating as I can sense it all round my mouth, top of my throat, up in my nose. I'm wondering about the eugenol because it would be useful to know if it could be contributing to the sore jaw for me with this temporary crown, so I can avoid setting it off next time if possible.

- I was wondering why a dentist would use this eugenol cement with a root canalled tooth, as surely the tooth wouldn't be sensitive without the nerve in it so no need for eugenol?

- And due to the properties of eugenol, doesn't it stop the (I'm guessing) non-eugenol permanent cement from adhering so well, & isn't it hard to fully remove all the eugenol before then placing the permanent cement? So I'm just wondering why not use eugenol-free cement for temporary crowns on root filled feeth.

- And does the fact this eugenol is leaking out enough for me to taste it, mean I'm also ingesting some of the rest of the cement itself too, it that OK to ingest like this?

Thanks very much.

 

[Gordon]

1) Most temp cements contain eugenol. It doesn't cause long term irritation as far as I remember, certainly not when cementing on a temp crown on a RCT'ed tooth
2) if your RCT has been done properly it should be completely sealed up and nothing will get down the canal. You realise that most root canal sealers used in root treatments also contain eugenol?
3) It's hard to find a temp cement with as good properties as the eugenol ones they're pretty rubbish in comparison, not as strong, harder to clean up.
4) It's easy to remove the temp cement, it's one of the good things about the eugenol temp cements as above, there is a theoretical problem with raw eugenol inhibiting composite setting but we tend to not use composites to cement crowns with (they expand a bit on setting which may crack a porcelain crown)
5) It's perfectly fine to ingest the tiny quantities you might be tasting, people eat cloves and cinnamon and pepper all the time... all of which contain significant amounts of eugenol

 

[Annie364]

Thank you so much Gordon, I read your reply on the train up to my appointment, I really appreciate it! It all makes perfect sense now. I guess I was thinking about the possibility of the eugenol penetrating through the soft tissues to the nerves in the jaw/ligament. I didn't realise eugenol is used in root canal sealers too.

I finally had my permanent crown on yesterday, my first one, and it feels so much better in my mouth. I checked beforehand and he does wash off with just water before placing the final crown. It's a secure feeling to have that protection over the root canal. The sore jaw is improving too.