Cracked tooth question.

[swami7774]

Situation: tooth #31 (lower right, second from the back) is cracked. I've had a temporary crown on it for about 3 weeks, with the plan being to put a permanent crown on later this week. But there's still pain when I bite down on it; a bit less than before, but still present. Is this normal? I'd rather avoid a root canal(or extraction) if possible.

 

[Doctor Bruce]

Situation: tooth #31 (lower right, second from the back) is cracked. I've had a temporary crown on it for about 3 weeks, with the plan being to put a permanent crown on later this week. But there's still pain when I bite down on it; a bit less than before, but still present. Is this normal? I'd rather avoid a root canal(or extraction) if possible.

There are a few possibilities why your tooth may still hurt. The first question I would ask is can you make the tooth hurt just by clenching your teeth or grinding your teeth? If the answer is yes, your temporary crown is high and the bite needs to be adjusted. The next most likely thing is that is temp crown is loose and needs a stronger cement to hold it on. The third possibility is that your tooth is cracked into the pulp (nerve) in which case you need root canal to eliminate the pain. Don't put the permanent crown on until this is resolved or you might find yourself with a hole in your brand new crown after the Root canal is done.