I had a crown done on a tooth (4th from the back on the top left). I had brushed the gum so hard that the gum receded. She originally tried to just put a tooth colored filling on the area to cover it up but then I started having air sensitivity in that tooth (I didn't have any problems until she put the filling on the top of the tooth). So I had a crown put on and it really hurt for about a week after the perm. crown was put on. She adjusted it and it has calmed down. She wanted to put a crown on the tooth next to it (third from the back) because when I was little my dentist used to do HUGE fillings and the tooth had finally cracked. I let her do the crown, I still have the temp but have no issues with that tooth at all.
Now over the past few years I have had a very dull ache on the upper left side of my mouth (over the two back molars). The 2nd from the back had a root canal well over 20 years ago. the other tooth has a crown as well (I grind my teeth at night and my dentist thinks that is why I have had to have so many crowns). ANYWAY, she sent me to an endodontist to see if I needed a root canal in the top back molar. He spent a long time talking to me and looking at the tooth (as well as the tooth that had the root canal) and said I did not need a root canal and that nothing was wrong with either tooth. He did a bite test and said my bite is totally off. He explained the pain I had been having as if you were to poke yourself in the shoulder it doesn't hurt but if you were to poke yourself in the same area over and over and over again for days on end it would eventually start to hurt. With my bite being off and the grinding/clinching of my teeth I have effectively "bruised" my teeth. He said I need my dentist to shave down part of the two back teeth and adjust my night guard (which wasn't cheap so I don't want to get a new one). He sent a diagram to her of what area needed to be ground down.
So she did that when they did the last crown prep about a week ago. Ever since then my mouth guard that I have worn for years has started hurting my upper last molar immediately when I put it in. Last night I wore it for about 15 minutes and I couldn't stand it so I took it out. My tooth ached until I fell asleep. I woke up feeling fine. She also adjusted my mouth guard when she adjusted my two back crowns but it seems weird that something that I have used for years (and didn't hurt) would suddenly cause so much pain. I can pinpoint the tooth, it's the last molar on the left side, the one that the endodonist looked at). I don't know if my last new temp crown (third from the back) changed the way my night guard fit or if she jacked my mouth guard up when she adjusted it. She adjusted it by drilling down the surface area on the area of the two back left teeth.
I am so sick of going to the dentist that I don't want her to do anything else to me for a long time. I have an appointment with her on the 28th for my perm crown to be put on. I am debating on calling her and seeing if she can get me in before then to readjust my mouth guard and maybe tweak my two back crowns again. This really has been a PITA and I am sick of taking ibuprofen (which does help). During the day the pain goes away but when I wake up it aches from grinding. The mouth guard was probably putting even more pressure on the back two teeth because it was too high but she has adjusted both the crowns and the mouth guard so I am surprised that it hurts worse now. I'm betting my latest new temp crown is the reason but I don't know why. I could understand if it was my perm crown as my new crown next to that tooth is bigger than the original tooth but the temp crown is made exactly the size of your originally tooth. The mouth guard didn't hurt after I had that crown put in though.
I really don't want to go back to the dentist before my appointment on the 28th. I have been to her office twice a week for the past month and then on top of that the trip to the endodontist (who was very impressive and a great guy). Has anyone here had issues with the fitting of their mouth guard after having a new crown? My mouth guard is hard plastic that you have to heat up before you put it in your mouth. It gets really soft when you heat it up then it hardens back up after it is in your mouth. When it is soft from heat you can twist it all around but when it hardens back up you can't bend it at all.
I guess this ended up being more of a whine than a question but I would like to know if anyone here wears a mouth guard for clinching/grinding of their teeth and have has issues with it after they get a new crown. I can't believe I lived with the dull ache for so many years from my bite being off. I just got used to it, I noticed that that side felt different than the other and had headaches frequently but didn't connect the two. I have had several trips to my dentist back in Dallas because I thought something was wrong with that tooth and each time he would tell me nothing was wrong with it....why didn't he think about the bite being off?
