problem with crown?

[owlpride]

I got a crown on a molar with a root canal 5 years ago. I sometimes experience throbbing pain in that tooth (or more exactly, slightly above that tooth in the jaw bone). That pain is almost always accompanied by unilateral headaches as well.

I saw a dentist today who took an x-ray of that tooth and did some poking and prodding and couldn't find anything wrong. (The teeth in its vicinity were scrutinized and passed muster as well.)

I just had a thought and I was wondering if it's plausible enough of an explanation to run by my dentist. When I first got the crown, it was too high and the crown + the tooth below it were the only teeth that met on that side of my mouth. Unfortunately, at that point in time I had terrible social phobia and did not muster the courage to bring that up to my dentist. I remember my bite bugging me for many months but my mouth eventually seemed to adjust. Today the dentist checked my bite (he had me bite down on blue paper) and noted that it looks even.

Now, even though my bite appears normal now, could my problems be related to an ill-fitting crown? Would it be reasonable to try filing the crown down a bit and see if that helps, or is that just inviting more problems?

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Most probably, the tooth is still sensitive due to the pressure while it was too high. If this is true, it should ease down gradually over the next couple of weeks.
I suggest you wait a couple more weeks (at least a month) and see how it goes. If it does not improve, further investigation is needed.

 

[owlpride]

It's been 5 years... what difference would a few weeks make at this point?

 

[Dr. Daniel]

I thought the crown was up until recently high.
If this is not the case, another possible diagnose (assuming there is no problem with the root canal treatment) is a TMJ problem. That can happen when a crown is not placed well and causes the joint to close down in a deformed way, causing pain by the joint.