Crown question?

Question

When I was 12, I was tripped at a skating rink, chipping one front top incisor and fracturing the other top incisor (I believe these are the "correct" names for the teeth within my knowledge). My dentist performed a root canal on both teeth to avoid the possibility of necessity in the future and put porcelain over metal crowns on both teeth.

Several years went by with no trouble. A couple of years ago, the tooth that was fractured initially began to ache on and off. Not seriously, just a twinge of pain once in awhile. A dentist has never been able to find a problem with it, quite the contrary, they often compliment the work done by the initial dentist. For the past couple of months, tt hurts constantly and hurts to gently push on the front of the tooth, no pain pushing on the bottom or the back of the tooth. No heat/cold sensitivity. Dentist says my gums look fine, and can't find a reason for the pain.

Any ideas? Should I chalk it up to a sensitive crown?

They both received root canal therapy prior to placement of crowns. Nothing is showing up on the x-rays to indicate failure of the root canal.

Answer 1

First of all you have to get an X-ray taken, so the dentist can see what is causing the pain.
Although root canal treatment is highly successful, there can be complications despite your dentist’s good work, and the reasons can be numerous…
•The sealing material can break (even microscopically) over time, allowing bacteria inside the tooth.
•A crack of the tooth. Since you had a root canal, there’s no pulp keeping the tooth alive and that makes the tooth more prone to fracture.
•Maybe the root canal is “short” (didn’t reach the root tip), and that means it will have to be redone.
You could also have…
•Swollen periodontal tissue.
•A change on your bite can be causing pressure to your periodontal ligament and it could be swollen.
•You may have a “high spot” on your tooth or antagonist tooth and that can cause an abnormal bite.
•If you’ve been stressed maybe you are grinding your teeth at night (bruxism) and if there’s an elevated point on your crown, this can be causing pressure to the ligament.
There can be many explanations, so let’s stop speculating and get an X-ray taken. I’m sure that your dentist will know what to do.

Answer 2

Crown Royal

Answer 3

DEAR SOVEREIGN,
AN X-RAY NEEDS TO BE TAKEN TO SEE IF THIS TOOTH HAS INTERNAL/EXTERNAL RESORBTION. IN EITHER CASE,THIS TOOTH NOW NEEDS TO HAVE A ROOT CANAL.