Temp crown- bite off or something more sinister

[famv5]

Last Friday, I went and had a tooth prepped for a crown. I'm currently wearing the temporary crown. This particular tooth broke about 20+ years ago. At that time, I had a cosmetic dentist fix the tooth to look like new. Fast forward to today and my current dentist stated that there is a possibility that I may need a root canal. The filling was very deep and next to the nerve but no decay was found.

So, this is what I'm feeling. Off and on, not constant, I will feel aching pains in my lower jaw on the side with the temp crown. I also feeling stabbing twinges like a pin being stuck into the tooth. The tooth itself doesn't seem really sensitive except to cold air, although, I'm not eating on that side so I can't be sure.

I'm really eating with my front teeth. Crazy, I know, but on one side I have the temp crown issue and on the other side I have a large molar that is cracked and I don't want to flare that one up at this time. That is next in line to be fixed. So, I'm sticking with softer foods and using my front teeth to eat.

My jaw itself seems sore in the back when I move it around. I have an appointment on Monday with an endodontist to have the tooth checked but in the meantime I'm wondering whether all of this pain is simply due to the crown being too high. I do recall after I got home from the dentist on Friday that there was black on the crown in several places from the wax paper that they have you bite on to check the bite. The dental assistant put the temp on and then had me bite on the paper and then said I was good to go. Shouldn't there not be any color on the tooth when they check the bite? Would having the bite off cause all of this pain in my jaw and the tooth itself?

I don't have any pain at night. In fact, last night my jaw was really hurting but once I went to sleep the pain disappeared. Now I'm up this morning and just had breakfast and I feel it starting again. The tooth is twinging and my jaw is hurting.

I have been taking 400mg of ibuprofen every 6-10 hours only if I need it. I've been told that I can take up to 800mg but I try not to overload if I can do with less. Would applying heat help?

One other thing. The dentist gave me two injections to numb me. One in the very back of my jaw and then another right next to the tooth about midway towards my chin. That spot has a sore bump where my cheek meets the tooth. What is that? I've never had anything like that before from a shot.

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[drm]

After a deep filling or crown preparation some sensitivity or discomfort is normal. Typically, as long as the pain isn't constant, waking you up at night, or hurting significantly for long periods of time, you don't need a root canal.

When they checked your bite, you would still have had some marks on the crown. The goal is to have the crown touch at the same time as all the other teeth on that side. When you're numb it can be very difficult to tell if it is just right. When my patients are sensitive after a crown preparation, the first thing I check is that their temporary crown isn't high. I would recommend that you have them take a quick look and see if it needs any adjustment. A high temporary crown can definitely make your tooth ache and hurt more than normal.

The jaw soreness is likely a result of the injections to numb your tooth. This can last for a week or two. You occasionally will also get a small bruise or some slight swelling where the injection occurred. It doesn't happen all the time, but it is a somewhat frequent occurrence. This is just from the trauma of the needle entering the tissue. What you're describing sounds very normal.