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Filling and crown question

M

MountainMama

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
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This may be a really silly question, but I have to ask, since a filling redo and crown started this whole dental mess I have been going through.

Can getting a filling redone and a crown put on trigger more dental issues? It would be on a tooth that previously has not had a crown, but has a crack in the cusp.

It is a lower first molar and has been aching on and off. I haven't chewed on that side in almost a month, since it first hurt when I chewed the first time after an extraction on the upper 2nd molar.

When I had my apico yesterday, the endodontist tested the tooth. I had a moment of panic, because it took a while before I felt the endo ice, and even then it was barely there...didn't hurt, but she said the pulp was fine. There was percussion pain, but just a little. She did the test for cracks and there was a little pain when I bit down on the stick at one point. She said it s cracked and she recommends a crown.

I asked about the filling, if there might be decay underneath, like the last two I have had replaced. They were also mercury amalgam fillings, and are all at least 15 yeard old. She said the best thing would be to replace the filling first.

The last two fillings I have had replaced led to the nerve dying, root canal, then extraction, so you can see why I am nervous. One filling was deep and the tooth was previously crowned. The other had a shallow filling and the dentist was perplexed as to why the nerve acted up.

So give me the possibilities. I need to be prepared. Can it trigger problems in the surrounding teeth as well with the prep for the crown? The endo already told me that the 2nd molar next to it has "roots from hell" and that it would be recommended to extract if anything went bad with it.

I attached an x ray. The x ray is a few years old, but the tooth hasn't changed.
 

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Hi,

A crack in a tooth can be quite challenging. Unfortunately, your story happens often when it comes to cracks.
Regarding your question: no, there is no direct effect on neighbouring teeth. What is important is to find out what was the major factor that contributed to the crack. Very often it is teeth grinding. If that is the case, I would also recommend a night guard.
 
Hi,

A crack in a tooth can be quite challenging. Unfortunately, your story happens often when it comes to cracks.
Regarding your question: no, there is no direct effect on neighbouring teeth. What is important is to find out what was the major factor that contributed to the crack. Very often it is teeth grinding. If that is the case, I would also recommend a night guard.

I have started clenching my teeth in the past year, due to the stress from all the dental issues. Having two 2nd molars from opposite sides (one upper and one lower) extracted has put more pressure on the 1st molars and they are connecting in places they didn't before.

I have tried 3 different night guards. The rigid one on my upper teeth made my top canine and lateral incisor hurt all day. Then I tried one where it had plastic plates between the molars and a flexible "bar" that went loosely around my lower front teeth. It made the molars hurt worse. The last one is more like the sports guards, flexible and the kind you boil and fit. It seems to be okay, but it seems to make the tooth with the crack hurt worse, as I am clenching on it. I know it is better than clenching on the other tooth, though. I can't wear it for at least a week as I just had an apico. I am planning on getting a custom made one after all this work on my teeth is finally done.

That tooth with the suspected crack has been hurting spontaneously with a dull pain that runs through it now, not quite stabbing. Is that normal for a cracked tooth if I am not even using it?

I am just terrified since the last filling replacement led to a root canal, then an extraction. If the tooth is cracked, a root canal is less likely to be successful, right?
 
It's difficult to answer without seeing the tooth. The fact that it spontaneously painful indicates a root canal treatment.
 
It's difficult to answer without seeing the tooth. The fact that it spontaneously painful indicates a root canal treatment.

That is what I thought as well, but the endodontist said the pulp was fine. I just do not want to go through all this again, where I get a filling and crown, then end up needing a root canal, then extraction. I can't afford it for one thing.
 
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