An artificial crown is a standard treatment that you may receive for a diseased tooth. Artificial crowns should follow procedures like root canal therapy and tooth extractions. But sometimes, you may feel pain or discomfort due to an artificial crown. The nature of artificial tooth crown pain is of gnawing and throbbing type.
You may also feel the pain radiating to your jaws and ear. This pain can lead to severe problems. There are multiple causes for pain in the area of an artificial crown.
The causes can be the underlying infection, poorly fitting crowns, incomplete treatment of the tooth, etc.
As there are many reasons for pain, there are also as many remedies for the same. You can use ice packs and clove oil at home to soothe the pain. But for permanent relief, you must visit the dentist.
Let’s get into the details of the type of tooth pain that you may expect from an artificial crown, causes, and treatments.
Tooth Crown Pain – What kind of pain you might expect?
It is common to feel pain and discomfort after most dental treatments. There is inflammation in oral tissues due to dental procedures. But the pain usually dies down within a day or two.
If you keep on experiencing pain for days after treatment, it is a concern. A mild to moderate degree of pain after placement of an artificial crown should be dealt with promptly.
The pain may initially appear as sharp shooting in nature when you bite. This kind of pain is due to a probable infection in the underlying tooth. Even after skill and precaution, there may be some mistakes on the part of your dentist as well.
Root canal therapy is a very sensitive treatment. Even a minor misjudgment or slip of hand may lead to a severe failure and crown pain.
It is very easy to mistake gum pain or a toothache for crown pain. Therefore, it is essential to know the nature and extent of pain due to an artificial crown. (1)
Nature of Pain – Signs and symptoms
Initially, the problem starts with pain on biting. You may notice gnawing and throbbing pain eventually within a few days. If left untreated, the pain may radiate to the jaws. Finally, you may feel pain behind your ears and the side of the head.
The pain transmits through the nerves in the pulp of your tooth. These nerve fibers are highly susceptible to change in acid levels around the tooth.
When there is a residual infection in the root of your tooth, acidity increases around it. The A-delta nerve fibers pick up these acids and cause immense pain below the crown.
Extent of Pain
Initially, the pain is restricted just below the crown. With passing time and neglect, the pain travels to the affected side of your jaw. Eventually, when the infection spreads, the pain radiates behind your ears and temples.
Causes of pain in an artificial crown
The following are some well-known causes behind tooth crown pain –
Infections
Infection in the pulp inside your tooth is the primary reason behind a toothache. Your dentist treats the infection and places a crown over it. But you may feel pain if there is a relapse or a residual infection.
Badly fitting crown
Artificial crowns are placed and fixed over your gums using dental cement. But if this cement dissolves, the crown starts to wobble over your gums.
The uneven pressure of the crown over your gums can cause immense pain and discomfort. Also, due to leakage from the base of the crown, there may be a secondary infection. (2)
Incomplete and improper treatment of the affected tooth
Dentists place an artificial crown after root canal treatment on a tooth. Sometimes, your dentist might not be able to complete the root canal treatment due to inefficiency. In such cases, there is a residual infection in the canals.
Once your dentist seals off your tooth and places a crown, you start feeling pain. Also if the treatment is not done correctly the same will happen.
Lack of patient compliance
Sometimes as patients, you may forget to follow a few instructions given to you by the dentist. You might bite on some hard food substances and trigger crown pain.
If you do not brush regularly and maintain good oral hygiene, you may trigger secondary infections. As a result of all these mistakes, there can be severe crown pain and treatment failure.
Improper anatomy of the crown
If the crown is too bulky or too thin, you may feel pain on biting over it. Also, if the anatomy or design of the crown does not match with a natural tooth, there is a pain. (3)
Teeth grinding
If you grind your teeth in your sleep, you may be creating unwarranted pressure on the crown. Further, it leads to cracked tooth and crown pain.
Remedies for pain due to an artificial tooth crown – Home remedies
Before you run to your dentist immediately after getting a crown pain, try out the following at home-
- Try doing a warm water mouth rinse to reduce any swellings.
- Massage the gum near the artificial tooth to improve blood circulation.
- Keep ice chips near the affected area.
- Use clove oil to soothe the inflamed oral tissues.
- Avoiding chewing if it hurts.
- Don’t touch to try to move the crown.
- Try over the counter analgesics like Ibuprofen.
Conventional treatment
Conventional therapy reduces tooth crown pain permanently. Visit your dentist if home remedies don’t relieve your pain.
Retreatment
The best way to get rid of crown pain is to uproot the crown and retreat your tooth. The dentist treats all the residual infections and replaces the crown. Thus, you get rid of crown pain for good.
Replacement of the artificial crown
If the crown is defective, faulty, abnormal anatomy or loose, your dentist replaces the crown. Replacement of the faulty crowns reduces crown pain eventually, and the gum surrounding it heals.
Mouthguards
If you let your dentist know about your teeth grinding problem, he may give you a mouth guard. You can wear this at night, and this prevents teeth grinding and eases off your crown pain.
Patient counseling
Your dentist might explain to you the instructions once again. You should follow these instructions to the word. Thus, crown pain might not occur in the future after retreatment.
How to take care of your crown to prevent pain?
If you take care of your crowns, you will face a lot less discomfort. You can do the following to prevent crown pain –
- Maintain good oral hygiene, brush twice daily and use a good mouthwash.
- Do not bite on hard substances using the crown.
- Do not swish your mouth or spit on the day of crown placement.
- Complete the course of antibiotics and analgesics that the dentist prescribes to you.
Over to you
It’s unlikely that your tooth crown pain will go away by itself. So, treating the cause is very important. Ask for an immediate appointment with your dentist. Explain your symptoms to your dentist. Let him know if you have teeth grinding habit.
Your dentist may check your teeth alignment and will then file down any areas that are too high. The dentist may also give you a custom mouth guard to protect your teeth at night.
If an infection is present underneath your crown, the dentist treats the crown pain with retreatment. If you’re experiencing tooth crown pain, it’s important to take proactive steps to manage it.
It’s unlikely to get better if a bacterial infection is present. So, if home treatment doesn’t provide relief immediately, see your dentist.