I have been traveling overseas and had a crown fall off which was re-attached by a dentist during my travels. Since that time I periodically have pain on the tooth when chewing. It feels like my upper teeth are hitting the tooth too hard or something. I don't have pain chewing all types of foods. Some there is no pain at all. The pain seems to depend on texture - I'm more likely to experience pain when chewing things like lettuce or fresh veggies, or soft chewy things rather than hard things.
A little background about this crown. It was initially placed around 2008 on a cracked tooth. The tooth was sensitive to chewing at that time as well, and I had to get a number of bite adjustments before I could chew on it comfortably, but it did get to the point where I rarely had discomfort. Now and then over the years I have had sensitivity but not enough for it to be a serious issue. So it went for years until the crown fell off just recently.
The dentist who re-attached the crown mentioned that there was a lot of old dark colored glue along the base of the tooth, and she said that she was not able to remove it. If I explore the area with my nail and finger I can actually feel the glue now at the base of the tooth. My impression is that when the crown was re-attached it was not pushed all the way down over the tooth. There seems to be an open margin between the base of the crown and my gumline. Is this normal or should the crown form a seal with the gumline? I'm wondering if it's possible it's because the crown is riding too high in my mouth and was not pushed down all the way that it is causing so much discomfort when I'm chewing? But if that's true, why? Is there a reason the dentist might have chosen not to push the crown all the way down when re-attaching it?
Could I get another dentist grind down the surfaces which my other teeth are hitting too hard, so that I could chew more comfortably?
My main concern right now is that if the crown were now removed again by another dentist in order to be re-set, the force of pulling it off could further stress the cracked tooth underneath, and make the tooth even more sensitive than it already it is. For this reason I'm hesitant to have any work done on it that isn't absolutely necessary.
Any thoughts/suggestions about next steps would be appreciated.
A little background about this crown. It was initially placed around 2008 on a cracked tooth. The tooth was sensitive to chewing at that time as well, and I had to get a number of bite adjustments before I could chew on it comfortably, but it did get to the point where I rarely had discomfort. Now and then over the years I have had sensitivity but not enough for it to be a serious issue. So it went for years until the crown fell off just recently.
The dentist who re-attached the crown mentioned that there was a lot of old dark colored glue along the base of the tooth, and she said that she was not able to remove it. If I explore the area with my nail and finger I can actually feel the glue now at the base of the tooth. My impression is that when the crown was re-attached it was not pushed all the way down over the tooth. There seems to be an open margin between the base of the crown and my gumline. Is this normal or should the crown form a seal with the gumline? I'm wondering if it's possible it's because the crown is riding too high in my mouth and was not pushed down all the way that it is causing so much discomfort when I'm chewing? But if that's true, why? Is there a reason the dentist might have chosen not to push the crown all the way down when re-attaching it?
Could I get another dentist grind down the surfaces which my other teeth are hitting too hard, so that I could chew more comfortably?
My main concern right now is that if the crown were now removed again by another dentist in order to be re-set, the force of pulling it off could further stress the cracked tooth underneath, and make the tooth even more sensitive than it already it is. For this reason I'm hesitant to have any work done on it that isn't absolutely necessary.
Any thoughts/suggestions about next steps would be appreciated.
