Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | At my last checkup, the oral hygienist noticed something odd about one of my rear teeth. She called the Dentist in and he confirmed that it appeared to be cracked. His opinion was that a crown was necessary. I have had several crowns in my life and didn't look forward to this from a pain and monetary standpoint but made an appointment to go through with it.
The last two crowns that he did for me were on my two front teeth. I had broken one off some 40 years earlier with a pipe wrench accident on a home plumbing repair that I attempted to do to myself. Anyway, a buildup was done that lasted amazingly well. When it broke again two years ago, there wasn't much tooth left but the dentist thought he could make a crown work. The next tooth was chipped slightly also so both were done at the same time. The teeth were repaired but a lot of gum tissue needed to be removed. Temporaries were installed but I lost the larger one about 5 or 6 times before the permanent crown was installed. They stayed on but I had gum pain for about a year and a half. Fortunately this has gone away finally.
About a month ago, I went in for the latest preparation. This was very uncomfortable as it was a rear tooth and I have a small mouth (from a dentist point of view). I was apprehensive due to the problems I had with the former procedure. The first two days, the pain was fine but after that I had a burning sensation in my mouth. It seemed like the gum tissue was not healing. I went back to the dentist as he was going on vacation. He didn't seem to heed my complaint about the pain and "adjusted" the temporary by grinding it down.
The next week the pain was still present so I went back to the office. The dentist was on vacation but an assistant and the oral hygienist tried to help me. They mentioned that some people seem to be allergic to the adhesive that is used when with the temporary crown. Of necessity this adhesive can not be a permanent type as the temporary needs to be removed. They gave me some "healing" medication that I used daily but didn't seem to help.
Yesterday I went in for the real crown. The gum was still extremely sore. The assistant removed the temporary and the dentist came in and installed the permanent crown. The dentist is an old military type and I get the impression he thinks I'm a wimp which is probably true. The assistant mentioned to me when we were alone that she has had the same problem with a temporary. Today, the area is still tender but much better than it has been.
I'm thinking and hoping that the adhesive was the problem. Has anyone else experience this? If so I would think there should be some alternative adhesive available. My crown is a gold type as this seems to be more durable for my heavy bite. After seeing a show on gold the other night and how it is recycled, I got to thinking about what happens to the gold that was ground off of my crown to make a good bite. Is it discarded or reclaimed? It would certainly be a small amount but given the value of gold is it reclaimed? |
Dental Crowns
