If you’ve recently gotten a new restoration, such as a filling or a dental crown, it should feel comfortable. There may be some soreness at first, but after a few days it shouldn’t feel any different from your other teeth. Sometimes, though, your restoration may just not feel right and may be uncomfortable for weeks.
There are many reasons why this happens. Not all of them are preventable, but here are four causes that can be addressed.
Poor Restoration Fit
The most common preventable reason for discomfort in dental crowns is that they just doesn’t fit properly. If a dental crown sticks up too high or has the wrong contacts with the opposing tooth, it can lead to soreness in the tooth with the crown, the opposite tooth, and sometimes even jaw pain.
To ensure a proper fit, it’s important for a dentist to consider your entire bite. If a dentist just failed to properly fit a crown, the crown can be remade to improve fit.
Poor Restoration Coverage
Sometimes your restoration isn’t made to cover everything that needs to be covered to avoid sensitivity. Leaving too much of the tooth exposed can cause sensitivity in a treated tooth, and it can lead to accelerated tooth decay.
Again, to fix this requires remaking the crown or dental veneer.
Materials Are Too Weak
Dental restorations can be made of many different materials, some of which are stronger than others. The most common tooth-coloured fillings are made of plastic, and they’re good in many situations, but they’re not strong enough if you need a large filling in a place that gets pressure from opposing teeth. The large filling will then allow that pressure to pass into the dentin, a soft, flexible layer of the teeth,and then into the pulp or nerve.
To fix this problem, we might use porcelain fillings, which are among the strongest fillings and have a great lifespan. They can protect your pulp from pressure so you won’t get pressure and irritation of the pulp.
Heat Sensitive Materials
Another problem comes when metals are used in dentistry. Metal is a great conductor of heat, and it can conduct hot or cold stimuli deep into the tooth, leading to sensitivity to temperature changes. Metal crowns and fillings also change size with changes in temperature, causing them to cause pressure when they expand or contract.
We offer fully ceramic restorations so that you won’t have to worry about the impact of metal crowns and fillings on your teeth. These ceramics are more insulating and they expand and contract the way your natural teeth don’t get pressure from hot or cold foods.
If Your Restoration Is Sensitive
If you experience sensitivity related to a restoration, first talk to the dentist who placed it. Try to get it fixed. If your dentist can’t or won’t fix it, we may be able to help. Please call (02) 9686 7375 for an appointment with a Sydney cosmetic dentist at My HIlls Dentist in Baulkham Hills.
