My Dental Crown Doesn’t Feel Right

I had a dental crown placed on a back tooth and it hasn’t felt right since. This is my first dental crown, and my dentist tells me I just need time to get used to it. I have tried. Really. But it has been two months and it hurts when I eat because the crown hits the tooth beneath it before my other teeth. Could I have the dentist make this crown shorter?

Angie

Dear Angie,

I felt a little indignant on your behalf when your dentist said you just needed time to get used to it. That is often dental speak for “I don’t want to deal with this and maybe if I make the patient wait they’ll give up. How your teeth meet together is an important dental principle known as occlusion.

There are post-doctoral institutions which do a great job training dentists in this. However, many basic “bread and butter” dentists feel their dental school training is enough. While some of them may admit that they’re not qualified to do a full-mouth reconstruction, they feel doing one or two dental crowns is no big deal and dental school was enough for that.

It is is hitting the other teeth prematurely, it needs to be fixed. Did the dentist use a bite registration paper when you had the crown done or at least after you complained to check where the tooth is hitting? He would have asked you to bite down on it. If he didn’t, I’d start there.  Once he knows where it is too high, he can sand that down a bit.

It is not a matter of you just “getting used to” having a crown. In fact, a dental crown should feel so natural, just like your other teeth, that you don’t even notice it is there. It needs to be looked at. Otherwise, it can throw off your bite, leading to jaw pain, migraines, and even TMJ Disorder.

If he refuses to listen to you, I recommend getting a second opinion. But, do it through a dentist who has some TMJ training. This way you know they have the training you need to have it done right.

This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Nashville, Dr. David Wickness.