Root canal crown and numbness throbbing

[rdrywaller]

Had crown 15+ years ago. Upper left tooth second from back.

Started experiencing pain. My dentist said my rear upper back tooth was decayed under its old crown...had to be pulled. Further signs of decay under crown on tooth next to it...second from back.

Had tooth pulled...it seemed to be a toughie to get out...unlike my non impacted wisdom teeth were. This was back in May of 24.

After a bit of healing, crown was removed, decay fixed and new crown out on..late June I think.

After a couple of weeks tooth was throbbing. Had 2 bite adjustments to no avail...was sent to Endo who did X-ray that went around head. He said he thought he saw some infection..did root canal thru new crown...4 canals. Root canal was just before Thanksgiving.

Started noticing some pressure or numbness by tooth and maybe cheek...hard to describe. I was watching it when my crown pretty much fell apart.

Weird thing is once most of the crown fell part and dentist temporarily smooth it down till he could get me in..numbness and throbbing greatly deminished. Waited 2 weeks for new crown. Got it a couple days ago.

Weird numbness or pressure feeling noticable again.... Right after crown put on. Cheek feels maybe numb back by jaw hinge. Funny thing is no pain so far from tooth...sometimes it feels pressure like something squeezing it...hard to describe...not pain ...so far...only been 48 hours since crown placed.

Took some Aleve hasn't really done much for me. What can this be. After 2k of crowns and root canal..plus the tooth pulled and the psychological trauma...I am a wimp...I do not know what to do...get it pulled? But maybe that won't solve the issue and I am not sure I want to invest in an implant when there's already seemingly trouble up there... I really don't want to denture. I just don't know what this is or what to do I've never had anything like this.

As I sit here I feel that pressures around the tooth... it does not hurt though and I feel a numbness or throbbing at the back of my jaw by the hinge noticeable also when I speak.

The numbness and weardness at my jaw hinge is sort of new maybe it's a coincidence. The only other time I had my job bothering me was in the very very beginning before I had the tooth removed or the crown worked on but this is a little different. The weird numbness around the tooth and seemingly pressure around the tooth when it hits my cheek or my tongue hits the tooth kind of returned after I had the crown put back on after it pretty much fell off. What the heck is going on?

Anyone ever hear of anything like this.

 

[Dental cure and care]

The root canal performed through your new crown indicates that there were multiple canals involved (four in total). This complexity often arises in molars where additional canals may not be easily visible on initial X-rays. If any canal was missed during treatment or if there is persistent infection post-treatment.
The fact that your crown “fell apart” raises concerns about its material quality or fit. Crowns can fail due to various reasons

• Poor bonding
• Material fatigue
• Excessive occlusal forces

If a crown fails shortly after placement, it may require reevaluation by both your dentist and possibly another endodontist for further assessment.
these factors decay under crowns, difficulties with extractions, root canal complications, and subsequent symptoms—it is crucial to maintain open communication with your dental care providers for ongoing evaluation and management of these issues.

the individual’s symptoms are likely related to the crown placement or surrounding tissue, and further evaluation and treatment by a dentist are necessary to determine the cause and develop a plan to resolve the issue. The individual should schedule a follow-up appointment with their dentist and explore all available options before making a decision about the tooth.
it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact cause without professional examination, possible explanations include improper crown fit leading to bite issues, inflammation of periodontal tissues, muscle strain from altered chewing patterns, or nerve irritation related to recent dental work.

 

[CNN2025]

I have a similar situation.


I don't know why, after I spent a lot of money and seeking professional evaluations from multiple experts:
dentists (2), endodontists (2), and periodontist (1), I am back to square one.

Background Info

In Jan 2024, they did a root canal on the 2 teeth on my lower L, and some temp cover on these teeth.
I was instructed to get crowns soon (on these 2 and 2 others.)

It was too expensive so I opted to wait.

It did not bother me until September. Worse in October when I experienced toothache on a daily basis.

Nov 2024

I decided to bypass insurance and went outside the network. I had to
pay several thousand dollars out of pocket. I wanted to resolve this once and for all.

They extracted the last tooth #18. On # 19 they put a temp crown on Nov 18. The plan was
to observe for 3 weeks or so before putting the permanent one in.
The gum on lower L looks fine. It was purplish prior to the procedures.


Other Pertinent Info:

I grind my teeth in my sleep and wear a night guard

The guard was not adjusted on Nov 18 but until Jan 21, 2025.


My pain scale intensity and frequency

1 "comes and goes" for minutes
2 mostly mild some moderate but not persistent for hours.
3 persistent
a for minutes
b for more than an hour

4 persistent throughout the day.


Days after treatment in November and December were all:
1, 2, and occasional 3a. 3 b not frequent.


Jan 1 - 3b
Jan 2 - 4

Jan 27 4
Jan 28 3b
Jan 29 2

Feb 4 2
5 2 and 3 a
6 3a

Today non stop - is a 4.

Type of ache
I would like to use my own words:
from the nerve underneath.
something stuffed inside my tooth
feels like what happened before the root canal

Is this normal ?

the Periodontist told me:
I had to wait 4- 6 weeks if no symptoms then we can put a crown
My gum is inflamed but it should not cause the kind of pain I have
if pain appears she might need to go in and operate

I though the second endo said no redo?

So can someone tell me why ?
I spent a lot of money and seeking professional evaluations from multiple experts:
dentists (2), endodontists (2), and periodontist (1), I am back to square one. Please advise. Thanks!

 

[rdrywaller]

Back to my original post... As soon as the crown was put in I felt the weird pressure... it's subsided a bit ...by the end of the second day as I mentioned my jaw was hurting however that cleared up a bit the next day too...however it's been on and off ever since and also my opposite side jaw
has hurt from time to time. When I woke up this morning my jaw on the side where the crown was placed was bothering me I almost took some Aleve but did not The interesting thing is once I started eating my late lunch/dinner it actually started to feel better. Also I don't think I've had any real pain chewing on the tooth other than if I'm chewing something like a granola bar or something like that that really gets caked in there .. That's when it my bite feels like it might be a little off.,.. so I'm starting to hope that maybe this is more of an issue of either my bite being off or me just not being able to chew on the one side for such an extended period of time that meeting my mouth has to resettle itself out? I'm not sure. However I have a suspicion the other issue with the weird numbness or pressure around the tooth maybe here to stay. That's not horrible and comes and goes but if I think about it I could always notice it. The only other odd thing is it seems like the pocket where the tooth and back of the one I've been talking about was pulled..feels a little irritating at times when I poke a toothbrush in or around the gum area I'm hoping I didn't get some kind of gum or nerve damage. I'm thinking about giving it another week or so if it doesn't get worse and then perhaps going and having him recheck the bite and taking it from there.

By the way the endodontist did that x-ray that goes all around your head and while looking at it he definitely noticed four canals and that's when he told me I would need two appointments for the root canal. My dentist also looked at the x-ray after it was all done and said 'oh I see he found four canals' . As far as I know this means he did all four. I'm hoping you're not applying there could have been a fifth.

As to the crown itself when he was doing this root canal drilling through the crown and drilling in general it sort of felt to me like the bit might not have been as sharp as it could have been because I felt a lot of vibration and we just remember thinking right at that point this crown's going to fall apart.

As to what the crowns made out of I couldn't really tell you other than it was it was 3D printed in his office.