Thank you both for reply. GaryA, will check these sites. Bryanna, will heed your advice too and am takng night guard with me. So pleased I am able to go away. Thought it wouldn't happen! Am going to Spain with 6 other girls and we all started working together 40 yrs ago and now live in different parts of the country, so should be good. Take care, Inez

Hi Bryanna, missed 1st reply, sorry. Bridge is made in a dental lab, so will discuss it with her. She wants to leave the temporary 1 in for 1 month and see if further developments that suggest a root canal is needed. Was thinking of changing my dentist, but she said she will only charge me the lab fees, so not sure now. Also this dentist is only 5mins. walk from me and so far has had very good reputation. maybe I've just been unlucky!

Oh Wow!! This sounds like so much fun.... ENJOY!!!!

The dental lab fabricates the bridge to her specifications. Meaning they can only make it according to how she has prepared the teeth, gums and impressions. So if any of those things are off, the bridge will not fit properly. If your teeth stay calm with this temporary bridge, then chances are the problem is not the health of your teeth but the fit of the bridge.

OK... now go to Spain and don't think about this anymore!!!

Hi Bryanna, I'm back! Had good time in Spain and teeth were only really bad on afternoon I came home. saw Dentist and she did bite adjustment and said to see her 3wkks time. Went for foot operation and teeth fine after op for 2days (?due to anaesthetic and analgesia) Saw her again Wednesday and she was not pleased that i wouln't agree to root canal and also implied that I hadn,t given it time to settle down!! Did more adjustment of incisor which I though was too "thick" This has made the bridge feel a good fit and part of my mouth, and toothache was minimal so was hoping it was settling down (she did say it could take up to 2 weeks to settle) However been worse today. Ache now seems to be incisor and fake tooth, again into the gum on the fake tooth. Am having salt gargles and oraljel. Wondering is she could be right and the nerve is dying? How long can this take? Back to square 1!! Inez

Hi Inez,

Welcome back... glad to hear you had a good time in Spain!!

It sounds to me like your dentist has become impatient with your (valid) dental complaints. Unfortunately her demeanor is typical behavior and she will now push to do that root canal and attempt to <<convince>> you that the root canal will solve the pain (temporarily). What she won't tell you is that the root canal procedure will leave you with an infected tooth that will only need to be removed sometime in the future. Since that tooth is part of your bridge, that means the bridge would have to be redone.

If that tooth is infected or has pulpitis (inflammation of the pulp chamber inside the tooth or the nerve dying) then the only options are root canal or extraction. Root canal therapy can not make the tooth healthy again and extraction of the tooth will be imminent. So you may want to talk to her about removing that tooth now and what treatment options would be available to you. This is IF the tooth has an infection or pulpitis.

When the drilling preparation is being done on the teeth that are going to be crowned or bridged, the tooth can die from either the trauma caused by the high speed drill and/or if the preparation is too severe. This bridge has been an ongoing problem from the onset of preparing the teeth. So I am wondering if the tooth was not healthy to begin with and/or she prepped the tooth too severely......??

If the tooth is healthy but the bridge does not fit well against the gumline or fit into the bite properly, the tooth and surrounding area will hurt and the pulp will eventually become inflamed which could cause the tooth to die. This is why some dentists will become impatient with the chronic complaints and they know they can't correct the preparation so they recommend a root canal on the aching tooth. As I said, the root canal is not the permanent cure all for an aching tooth.

The salt water rinsing will only help if there is gum irritation. The orajel can actually irritate the gum tissue if it's used too often and the reason it helps temporarily calm down the ache is because it has a topical anesthetic in it.

I feel bad that you are going through this. If the bridge fits ok and the teeth are healthy, the achiness can take a few weeks to calm down completely. But I don't know if that is what will occur in your case because it depends on what is being seen clinically or radio-graphically.

Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna, you've confirmed what I thought. Managed to wear my mouth guard for the first time last night and bridge feels to be fitting firmer if a little tight, so see how it goes. Last x-rays I had were fine (my husand checked them too and he knows a little bit about x-rays) have been told that my gums are very healthy looking (Dentist praised my teeth cleaning and flossing!!) dentist also said that she will give me another temporary bridge next week and is not doing an impression for a new one until I am totally satisfied with the fit! I felt like the patient from Hell! If I do end up having a root Canal I will then look for a NHS dentist. They are SO much cheaper but there are none in our town, need to travel about 20miles and I don't drive,but think it will be worth it.

Hi,
I know it's been a while since this post was last commented on.
I'm having the same exact issue. Got a bridge and the adjacent tooth is aching.
Have no problem sleeping and when I wake up the pain is not usually there but comes like 30mins after I wake up and then all through the day.
Saw the dentist and she did a root canal
Pain went down for a week and came back again
Were you able to get yours sorted out.
Please kindly respond if you get this message

Thanks

Hi Franklinadamau,

Why did the dentist do a root canal on that adjacent tooth, was the tooth infected or just hurting since the placement of the permanent bridge? Was this tooth painful while wearing the temporary bridge?

If that adjacent tooth was healthy and you had pain after the permanent bridge was put on then one of two things may have happened:

** One, the tooth was traumatized from the drilling (this can happen) and the nerves became inflamed and infection set in. But then you would probably had some pain in this tooth while wearing the temp bridge.

** Two, the tooth was hurting because the bridge did not fit properly and there was too much pressure on this tooth causing the periodontal ligament, a live elastic like tissue that surrounds the tooth in the bone, to become inflamed. If this were the case and it was caught and dealt at the onset of the symptoms, the ligament may have rejuvenated and become healthy again. That would have required either specific adjustment of the bridge if possible or removal and re-fabrication of the bridge to get a better fit.

The recurrence of the pain in that tooth may indicate that the ligament is involved because in spite of the root canal procedure causing the tooth to become non vital, the ligament remains alive and is able to respond to the constant pressure of an ill fitting bridge.

In spite of all that you have endured, perhaps an unnecessary root canal, this bridge may need to be redone. If your dentist is not too concerned about the fit of this bridge, then it may be wise to seek a separate opinion from another dentist who is not affiliated with this dentist.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna
Many thanks for your response
Here's what actually happened. While she was filing and preparing the tooth, it became very sensitive and the sensitivity became unbearable that she had to inject my gum.
Took my measurement and put a temporary crown on the filed tooth.
Got home hours later and the temporary crown fell off while I was eating.
No pain yet
Tried to place the temporary crown back myself and it actually stayed but not firm. Noticed I was feeling pains while the temporary crown was on so I had to remove it and the pain stopped
About 5 days later the bridge was ready and I went to the dentist.
While she was fixing the bridge I didn't really feel any pain. But after the bridge was fixed I felt this tight sensation on my front gum but I felt it would go subside with time.. Perhaps my body needs to get used to it

Besides that I usually have this peperish feel on my entire upper front gum where the bridge is located


That uncomfortable feel was still there and it was about a week later that the pains gradually started coming in....the pain usually comes in from time to time and then go away on its own. There's this specific day I ate lots of meat.. Then the real pain kicked in.
Was so unbearable that I had to call her and she then invited me to come for root canal. That after that I won't have any pain

She did the root canal and sincerely the pain went down to an extent. Kept on going to her clinic for cleaning inside the tooth. I still feel pain which get a little bit serious at times. Then she put me on a stronger antibiotics for seven days. During this seven days of taking the antibiotics the pain disappeared to a great length. But came back the day after I finished taking the antibiotics. Visited her again and she told me she'll continue cleaning inside the tooth until the pain is no more.

I try as much as possible to avoid using or touching the bridge but then came the day i did two things which likely brought back the serious pain before the root canal.
I had a blocked nose so I used my electric heat steam inhaler. While steaming my nostrils I mistakenly exposed the bridge to the heat of the steam for like 30 seconds, that same day I had something stuff in my mouth. So I kept sucking to get it removed. Guess the sucking exerted pressure on the bridge. In the evening the pain before the root canal returned.
So far I've noticed the pain is not on the tooth but on the upper section. Like it's on the gum or the joint between the tooth and the bone.
It gets very serious at times and make me feel depressed.. After sometimes it comes back on its own. Pain killers don't work

I'm supposed to see her tomorrow. Dentist charge alot.. I have to save money to see another dentist

From what I've explained so far, do you think it's a problem with the bridge?
Hope to hear from you soon

Thanks alot and I'm grateful
Franklin