is a crown necessary and how long can you leave it?

[HMB]

So, I am now two weeks post RCT, my tooth still feels weird, but not painful as such, but I know that I clench / grind my teeth at night and that seems to cause discomfort in the mornings. I have tried a grind guard which sometimes seems to work, and sometimes seems to make the morning issues worse. I am worried that after all the trauma and expense of the RCT, I will end up without the tooth anyway because grinding will get it! The dentist has recommended a crown, but when I said I needed a bit of a rest from dental appointments, he seemed very relaxed about leaving it as a later decision as well.

Am I worrying unnecessarily about the strength or otherwise of my ll7 molar following RCT? (I just want to wrap it in cotton wool)! Is a crown always necessary for RCT treatment? and if so, do I need to do it quickly to prevent damage?

And if anyone has any recommendations for a 'bouncy / soft grind guard because the hard plastic ones seem to have the same effect as chewing on a brick, I would be grateful for all suggestions

 

[Gordon]

Am I worrying unnecessarily about the strength or otherwise of my ll7 molar following RCT? (I just want to wrap it in cotton wool)! Is a crown always necessary for RCT treatment? and if so, do I need to do it quickly to prevent damage?

Probably. The trouble with doing RCT on a molar is that you need to remove quite a lot of tooth structure to do it properly, so as a general rule, you need to crown them to restore the missing strength.

However, this is a generalisation, it doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, if your dentist isn't too bothered in your particular case then I don't see any reason to worry about it. Even if the tooth fails, chances are it may be fixable at that stage.

 

[HMB]

thanks for responding Gordon, I'm a bit more reassured that the tooth might survive to make the RCT worthwhile, but I will try to sort out a crown as soon as I feel able (and can afford) to.

 

[Gordon]

Happy to help. It's always worth getting the crown done at some stage, even just for reassurance that it won't snap in two at the worst possible moment

 

[HMB]

I'm not sure the though of the tooth snapping is wholly reassuring but thanks for the advice.

Can I ask, in your experience, what the timescale of a RCT tooth feeling normal again please? I'm still getting some mild pain and almost a 'bouncy' feeling in the tooth when I bite down. I have had problems with the tooth for well over a year (following what should have been a routine filling by my previous dentist), and then I had a high filling which was resolved less than two weeks' ago, so would some discomfort still be normal?

 

[Gordon]

I'd say a couple of weeks would not be unusual, as long as the symptoms are slowly improving then it'll be fine.

 

[HMB]

Thanks Gordon, to be honest, I was beginning to think that I was in the unlucky % for whom this was never going to be resolved. However, suddenly today the symptoms have eased (if not totally disappeared), so I feel a little more hopeful / positive re the outcome. I also think I would have been crawling the walls if I hadn't had this forum to bounce my concerns on