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Crowns for teeth? Painful? (1 Viewer)

McPaul

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I have a dental cleaning on the 23rd of July. That day, or shortly after, I need to get 2 crowns on my two front teeth. I've put it off for long enough. Has anyone gotten crowns before? Is it such a big deal? Tell me about it, how much pain? I'm a chicken when it comes to dental stuff, and have NEVER even had a cavity.
 

Yee-Ming

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Sorry mate, it's not going to be fun.

I broke my two front teeth as a kid, and they were crowned, temporarily at first since I was still growing, then when I was around 16 they were crowned permanently.

You first need a root canal. This is not fun, but actually doesn't hurt as much on the front two as I understand hurts on molars -- apparently because front teeth have just the single root, molars have two or three and getting them all out is difficult.

After that the tooth gets ground down, imprints are taken and the crown is built. At a later date, you come back and the crowns are stuck on.

The biggest annoyance is having your mouth wide open for such a long time -- a few hours I think -- while the dentist works.

BTW, don't hesitate to tell your dentist if the "bite" isn't right, i.e. if the crowns are such you can't bite easily, so that he/she can keep working on it until the fit is perfect. I got fed up of sitting in the chair for hours and told him it was good, when one crown was still too thick on the underside. That extra bit has since pushed my lower opposing tooth in and my teeth are out of alignment -- minor problem, but a little annoying.
 

Jim_F

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I had my upper central incisors crowned (porcelain) last year. One had had a root canal, the other, not. With a good local, it was not too bad. The crowns look much better than my natural teeth ever did, even before my pavement munching experience.
 

ken thompson

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You may or may not need a root canal. I just had two molars done. With the novacaine you wont feel a thing. Even afterward I had no real pain. You wont be eating any apples or corn on the cob for a while though.
 

Dan Hine

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I've also had a root canal and crown done (on a molar). Only I DID get drugs and there was absolutely NO pain. If they use novacaine then I don't think you'll have any problem whatsoever. And after my experience, anyone who uses getting a root canal or crown as an excuse to get out of work is a wuss! (Unless a main part of your job is talking to people, because you will sound funny for a few hours.) ;)
 

Mark Zimmer

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Just had a crown put on a molar that I broke. I didn't need a root canal either---I had one on an incisor years ago and that was really no fun at all, let me tell you. The crown process is no big deal by comparison; if you get a temporary crown you have to be careful of cold or you'll be howling in pain (obviously not an issue if you get the root canal, since there won't be any nerves left), but the actual crown itself is less of an issue than getting a filling, really.
 

Chris Hovanic

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I had a root canal with no drugs. It’s the most painful thing I have ever been through.
What are you crazy!

I had a root canal/crown a couple of years ago. Worst pain I have ever felt.

The dentist prepped me for a crown with no root canal. When I went back to get the crown put on I told the dentist that the tooth was still hurting. We decided to mount the crown with temp glue. Once the tooth calmed down I was to schedule a time for the crown to be put on.

About 3 months later the tooth had absest (spelling?). I was in pain for two days before I got to the dentist (because of the weekend. My dentist let me know that I should have called him over the weekend.) He then started the root canal. After he shot me full of Novocaine he started drilling. When he hit the nerve I must have been floating out of the chair. Not sure how he held me down.

He then had to shoot the nerve directly with Novocaine. Again I have no idea how he held me in that chair and administer the shot all by himself. After that it was all down hill.

I had a student that said she would rather give birth than have a root canal.

If your crowning/filling rear teeth use gold. Gold is much more durable then most the other materials they use. I would not recommend gold for front teeth... unless thats the look your going for ;) ;)

good luck
 

McPaul

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Ouch, I'm already wincing here. It's on my two front upper teeth, what determins if you need a root canal or not? that sounds horribly painful. My teeth are not, nor have ever been in pain. I just grind them alot because of my overbite at night, and you can see through them almost. This is not good, obviously. Mouth open for a long time? I don't like this. I guess you can't swallow either huh? I'm one of those people that have to swallow (my own fluids, not theirs) regularly when my mouth is open for so long.

Is porcelain the way to go?

Has anyone had any adverse effects? I'm particularly concerned about the abcessed tooth mentioned above, if that happens to me, I'm gonna lose it!
 

Chris Hovanic

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Paul, I hope I did not scare you too much. Its best to get it taken care of ASAP.

Ever see Cast Away... I would not want to be stuck on an island with a tooth problem. Let alone steping off the plane in Mexico on my much deserved vacation only to have a tooth start hurting.

Make sure you have a good underestanding with your dentist that when u feel pain he stops and gives you more Novicane.

When I had my Wisdom teeth pulled, I only had 1 more shot left. After that shot the Dentist could not give me any more. Luckely it was all I needed.

Dont hesitate.. just get it done! Good luck!
 

Jay Heyl

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A crown alone shouldn't be painful. The novacaine will readily take care of any pain you would feel. A root canal, however, is likely to be a different story. I've had two root canals and both times the root was abscessed (i.e. infected and inflamed). The problem here is that normal anesthetics tend to be ineffective on nerve endings that are already inflamed. Both times I had to stop the dentist during the root canal and he injected some other stuff to deaden the nerve. It wasn't that what he was doing was all that painful, but I could definitely feel it and it always felt as though a great deal of pain was lurking right around the corner. Once he put in the extra stuff I didn't have a problem.

There's also a chance the tooth (teeth) will be sore for a week or two after the work. The root canal particularly is rough on the ligament that lies just over the jaw bone and it may be tender for a while. Nothing terribly painful, just a little ache when you put pressure on the teeth. In my case I just chewed on the other side of my mouth for a few weeks and things were fine.
 

andrew markworthy

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I've had several crowns and cappings. As has already been intimated, the degree of pain largely depends on the nature of the initial work that needs to be done. I can honestly say that the worst pain I've had was for a couple of days after the initial work and it was no worse than *very* mild toothache and could be controlled with a couple of paracetamol tablets (that and avoiding anything v. hot or cold). Having said that, I've had root canal work done and it's never bothered me.

However, you do hear horror stories. E.g. there was a case in the UK press fairly recently of a Brit TV weather presenter who ended up requiring £50k of remedial surgery, including gum skin grafts (eurrgh!) after botched set of crowns. [And to kill the old canard - no, that's not par for the course for Brit dentistry, which is *honestly* good; it's just that far fewer Brits are concerned about *cosmetic* rather than simple 'medicinal' dentistry].

Have a nice time at the dentist's, Paul. :D
 

DavidY

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I've got three crowns including one onlay....all gold as they are all rear molars. No big deal IMO. One crown had to be redone as it didn't fit properly....very irritating. I definately prefer gold over porcelain for rear molars. Probably go with porcelain up front....it's pricier too.

When I was a poor starving student in the early 90's, I had a root canal done by a dental student over several weeks. He commented that I had an unusual "C" root canal....had to show off to the rest of the class.

Dave
 

Dave Poehlman

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I just had a crown on my molar a few weeks ago.. the whole process was pretty painless.. except for when Nurse Ratched unexpectedly yanked off my temporary with a pair of pliers to make way for the porcelin. No warning! I almost swallowed my tounge I gasped so loudly.

The fitting process was a little painful as they would try it on, take it off, grind my teeth a little so my bite fit together right, try it on, take it off... etc.
 

Amano Ai

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I just to be very scared of going to the dentist but now either I have overcome the fear or gotten older and wiser, it doesn't matter anymore.

I had 4 wisdoms removed at once, one in the lower jaw was sideways, the rest were able to be pulled out easily. The sideways one was the hardest. Had to be sawed into pieces. I only had shots and was awake for the whole thing.

I have had a crown put in when I was a teenager, then a root canal.

I agree with many others, not much pain, for me anyway, it was a mental fear of the pain around the corner than the real thing.
 

Tony Whalen

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GAK!

Reading this thread is the text version of hearing that drill-into-tooth sound. *shudder*

Paul, make sure you have a good dentist who understands your concerns. #1 tip. :)

I've had root canals. Once properly frozen, it was fine. It was *uncomfortable*, but not overly painful. But I had a dentist who knew what he was doing and was aware that I'm sensitive to pain.

I briefly went to another dentist, who turned out to be a complete quack. Not only did he completely screw up my wife's bite (which later had to be corrected by another dentist who is wonderful) but he was totally insensitive to his patients.

I specifically checked off "sensitive to pain" on the New Patient form they had me fill out. On my second visit, working on a cavity, I was white-knuckled in the chair. (Had one novocaine shot at this point.) He stopped, asked if it hurt, and when I nodded, he responded with "oh come on. It can't be THAT bad. Be tough!" and went back to work. I just about kicked him in the nuts. Never went back.

I had 4 wisdoms removed at once, one in the lower jaw was sideways, the rest were able to be pulled out easily.
Amano, I had all four of my wisdoms out, but both of the teeth on my bottom jaw were sideways like you. Once they told me that they'd have to saw them to remove them, I told them to knock me out. Best decision I ever made, I think. :) Went to sleep, woke up groggy & toothless. :D Sorta like going on a bender, with less of a hangover. ;)

Anywho...

Paul...the answers you are looking for... crowns aren't usually painful. Root canals CAN be, but if you have a good dentist, and your roots aren't too inflamed, you should be okay. :) Just get it done, and don't fret so much. Short-term pain for long-term gain, right? :)

Good luck!
 

Mark Barnhill

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Just now got back to work after a crown this morning. It's my 3rd or 4th. This one was a bicuspid, the others were molars, all with root canals. It really wasn't painful at all. I used the meds they gave me to help me sleep the first night after the root canal last week. The crown today took only about 45 min and I was out of there. :D
Again, no pain. Just uncomfortable.
 

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