RCT, perm crown, still some pain

[famv5]

I had a temp crown placed on tooth #20 on December 29th. On Jan 6th, I had a root canal done on the tooth because I was still experiencing pain and the filling was near the nerve. An endodontist performed the root canal and said it was successful and showed me the xray.

I was fine until I had the permanent crown put on on Jan 25th. Since that time, I've had on/off aching in my jaw and cheek on that side of my mouth. My tooth doesn't hurt to eat on it or brush or sensitive but just this on/off aching. My cheek itself seems to just be sore as if the muscle is tender.

My dentist took an xray before placing my permanent crown and said the root canal looked great, too.

So, my question is what would be causing this pain? It's almost the same pain I had before anything was even done to the tooth. I do have TMJ so I don't know if that's what could be the cause. I feel on/off aching on the other side of my jaw, too, but not as much.

How long should it take for a tooth to calm after having a root canal and a crown placed? I have only had one other crown placed on my lower jaw before and seem to remember having the same achy issue. Weird. All the crowns on my upper jaw were fine with no pain.

I'm starting to doubt whether the root canal was necessary because even the endodontist told me that I could wait to see what happens with the tooth or just have the rct done and I chose to have it done. But, if I still have that same on/off pain, was it really tooth related?

If you have any idea, I would appreciate the information.

Thank you.

 

[explosionsinthesky]

i'll try to give you a possible answer since it sounds awfully familiar to what i'm going through at the moment. I only had my rct a week ago so not the same situation but I have similar aches in my cheek and jaw even though the tooth itself is not giving me any grief and I can even bite on it (done it as a test). I've thought about the aches in question and I think the problem is that ever since RCT I've been unconsciously clenching the muscles in my jaw and cheek. When I remember it, I can consciously relax and I can definitely feel that they've been tight before, hence causing the aches. So yeah, TMJ related. I imagine same thing happens when I sleep. I think if the tooth doesn't hurt and there's no infection, we should be alright so have a think if it's the same thing.

 

[gentledental]

If the pain started after the crown had been placed then it is likely to be the crown. The bite might be a little too high is the most common reason for a crown. The crown needs to be checked for high spots and altered.