Crowned and rooted tooth sensitive to cold

[smshulman]

Hi

I had a root canal and a crown on Jan/13 and everything felt very good until a few weeks ago when the tooth became sensitive to cold and even sweet. The pain is not very consistent but it is clearly that tooth. I tried to put a piece of ice on every other tooth and only this tooth was sensitive. Also once it reacts to the ice it hurts when I bite.

There is no pain whatsoever when i touch the very bottom of the tooth. The root canal was handled by a very reputed expert dentist.

I thought that the following may be the cause

1. Unsuccessful root filling - I would expect the pain to come earlier than 5-6 months. Also when I feel round the tooth I have no pain and the dentist is not likely to make such a poor job.

2. Due to food getting stuck between the teeth a bacteria developed and there is some inflammation etc in the deep gum.

Any advice/comment is most appreciated.

Samuel

 

[danielhermann]

hi smshulman
Often the teeth can experience the increased sensitivity because their protective outer layers enamel over the crown or cementum over the root have worn away. That exposes your tooth’s dentin. . It can be caused by previous preparation of the tooth, leakage under the temporary crown, possible infection. But in your case it sounds more like this also can be triggered by crown lengthening as well. The zone apical to the cemento-enamel junction can be extremely sensitive and react to cold.To reduce sensitivity use sensitive toothpaste & avoid acidic food and drink.