My gums are so tender

[Altari]

I had the permanent crown put on Thursday. I thought it was going to be a simple process, but it wasn't. He took something that looked like dental floss and shoves it around the base of my tooth to "get a good seal." That stayed on for almost 2 hours. By the last 25 minutes of my appointment (when it was still on) I was nearly in tears, begging for some topical to make the pain go away. When he removed it, I had almost instant relief.

The second day, the gums on the inside were black and blue, and extremely sensitive. They were also kind of "pulled" away from the tooth still.

It's the end of the fourth day, and the gums are STILL tender (but they are tighter around the tooth). I can only eat extremely soft foods without pain. The tissue is also smooth, whereas the tissue by the matching tooth on the other side has some texture.

Is this normal? How long will this last?

 

[fullmoon]

I can't tell you whether or not that is normal as I have only had one crown, and the procedure did not involve anything like you describe, however I was wondering if you have tried rinsing with warm salt water? It might help relieve some of the inflammation and pain.

 

[brit]

I had the permanent crown put on Thursday. I thought it was going to be a simple process, but it wasn't. He took something that looked like dental floss and shoves it around the base of my tooth to "get a good seal." That stayed on for almost 2 hours. By the last 25 minutes of my appointment (when it was still on) I was nearly in tears, begging for some topical to make the pain go away. When he removed it, I had almost instant relief.


Is this normal? How long will this last?

Altari - why weren't you numbed for this appointment? Had the tooth previously had a root canal so they said LA wasn't necessary?
If yes and yes, the problem is that going without LA may be fine with an extremely gentle dentist or with one who uses topical for the gum area but otherwise it can just end up being uncomfortable and painful and risks sending you back to square one.
It sounds to me like it was the packing cord that you are describing and given the discomfort it caused you, you needed to be numbed. You could have requested this during...because numbing the tooth, would also numb the gum where you were feeling the discomfort. I have read that 2 cords being packed is more painful than one and it is routine for dentists to numb for this...even if only with topical. To some extent it is the patient's choice. Just because there is no nerve in the tooth doesn't mean that the soft tissue needs no LA.

It's strange the appt took so long...my seating appointment was 15 mins max so maybe the root canal was also being finished off in the same appt is all I can think happened. Or was the packing cord put there to open up the gums so the crown could be seated and you were left just sitting there in pain for most of the appt and nothing much else was being done to you?

Sorry you had to go through that .

 

[Altari]

Hi brit,

I thought I mentioned it. I DID get LA during this appointment, at the very beginning. I got it around 10:40 and it began to wear off (on my gums) around 12:40. The rest of my mouth stayed numb until about 2PM. ><

The appointment involved shaping the tooth, fabricating the crown and putting it in place. The first 45 minutes was him shaping the tooth (this is when he put the cord in). Then he made a model of the crown and sent it over to his nifty little machine, that took another 20-25 minutes. After the fit was tested, he put it in the oven to cook and I sat there for a good long while, watching TV, talking to the receptionist, playing on my phone... It was toward the end of this that I started to get a lot of burning pain going on. I got a bit of TA, but he wanted the area to stay as-is so I didn't get much more.

It wasn't a traumatic experience, don't get me wrong. I don't think he did anything incorrectly, didn't lose any trust for him, etc. I'm sure if I'd asked for more LA, he would have given it (but that pesky fear of needles...)

It is hurting less today than it did when I posted. The area is still sensitive, but not painful anymore. It was just a matter of time, I suppose. =)