Almost at the end of my rope here. Ok at the end of Dec I cracked my existing crown on tooth 30. Went to dentist who started to re-crown but saw too much decay so ordered a RC. Had one the next day , 4 canals out, tooth was too painful to put temp crown on so for 2 weeks there was no temp crown. I was v careful but the pain seemed a bit much ( my other RC years earlier was nothing like this). Finish part two of RC and temp crown goes back on. I feel fine except cannot chew / bite on that tooth. I’m told I need a post so I get that. Than the perm crown. $$$$ It feels fine for about 5 days then I attempt to chew on it. YOWZA. Back and forth to Endo and dentist. “ all looks great.” They did all the fancy X-rays. I get my bite adjusted and it feels good for a week. Still not able to chew on it though as I’m told there’s a lot of inflammation. “ Give it time” . RC was finished mid- Jan and perm crown was 8 weeks ago. Saw another Endo for second opinion bec I’m going nuts and she put me on a 6-day steroid pack to reduce inflammation. Today was day 6 and tooth is still toothing. Tender on sides, biting on it hurts. Throbs a bit randomly; sometimes for hours. Saw dentist today and he mentioned they could go in and dismantle everything (!!) to clean out etc. but RC looks “ perfect.” Seems like a very long shot to me and frankly, mentally I don’t think I could handle that only for them to find a fracture. Second Endo fears it’s a fracture ( prob from the RC!). I see her in a week to discuss next steps. She said no infection, bone looks good. Has anyone ever taken this long for inflammation to quell? Am I headed for extraction? So freaked out.
Root canal / crown tooth hurts
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MattKW
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Sounds like possible fracture. It's interesting that treatment was continued despite the ongoing discomfort. If a patient is too painful to put a temp crown on it, then why would it be continued? Maybe a CBCT by the new endo will see more. Let us know what happens.
A temp crown was made the day before by my dentist (he made one to keep the tooth covered until I could get the RCT) so I had it in before the RCT. After the entire treatment the Endo ( who was skilled but I felt a bit rough) tried to put it back in but the pain was too much. Two weeks later -after initial pain had subsided — part two and RCT was done and seemingly fine ( except eating on it was not fine). Adjustment helped briefly. New Endo last week did CBCT and it looked perfect. The steroids are helping a bit but I’ll know more next week when I see her. Just such a pain ( literally and figuratively) to go thru all this to perhaps have to extract ( which I hear is no fun either). Still wondering if inflammation can really last this long. Thanks for the reply.
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Update: after a 6 day course of Medrol the tooth felt a bit better. However whenever I chew on it, pain is still there. Endo tapped and examined it yesterday and there is definite improvement. I go back in 3 weeks to see if it continues to improve … or not. Endo says sometimes things take a long time to heal but it’s been 3 months since RCT and 2 months since perm crown. Trying to keep this tooth but I don’t know.
Dr M
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You also have to take into consideration the cost involved in order to keep a tooth that does not want to heal. Hopefully the pain goes away, but sooner or later you have to weigh up the costs. An implant might be a better long term solution.
MattKW
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Well, glad to hear it's improving.
Worth keeping if possible. Implants carry their own risks and should not be undertaken lightly because there's nothing else after an implant.
Oh totally. I am most likely headed for extraction ; these next few weeks until my next appt is kind of a last hope to save it because I have the feeling if there is a fracture ( and I believe there is even if it’s not showing up); it’ll only get worse in time. Just such a bummer to go thru RC, then crown ( plus the insane $ cost ). Thanks for your response.
I’m super nervous about extraction and implant but if there is indeed a fracture I’m guessing it’ll only get worse. And I def cannot chew on it without pain. Hoping to get some relief in the next few weeks. Will def continue to update. Thanks for the reply.Well, glad to hear it's improving.
Worth keeping if possible. Implants carry their own risks and should not be undertaken lightly because there's nothing else after an implant.
Update: scheduled for extraction in a week. No infection, bone looks good, no issues from root canal. It’s just one of those things that prob worsened after all the dental work of RCT and crown placement. Relieved to finally have a diagnosis and treatment plan. Oral surgeon I saw is great and I’m ready ( he will do implant in time as we’ll) . Not looking for horror stories - just posting to let people know I solved my issue. Good luck and tooth health to everyone!