Thanks so much for all your help, Bryanna. You are right about me feeling overwhelmed. In my original posts, I was so intent on getting to the bottom line that I omitted some important details.

For one thing, my dentist never saw the Cerec crown until after the root canal. I had been traveling when I broke the tooth, and had to have it done away from home. (I broke/cracked two other teeth at the same time, and also had those replaced by the same Cerec enthusiast, though the other two teeth have not YET- fingers crossed- caused any problems.) I'm not sure that my regular dentist ever got over the fact that I allowed someone else to do all that work on me, even though it was out of my control. He had been my dentist for over 20 years, and I trusted him completely, but as the months went by and I could not seem to get over the pain of the root canal, I began to suspect that his resentment was clouding his judgement about my treatment and I went to get a second opinion.

That dentist actually agreed with my old dentist that we should try to replace the crown with a temporary to see if that would alleviate any of the pain. I decided to start everything fresh with him, and he replaced the horrible Cerec crown about 6 weeks ago with a temp. We agree to keep the temp on as long as I neeed, to se if the root canal would calm down. Meanwhile, the adjacent tooth seemed like it was acting up. It had a 30+ year old gold crown on it, but I was sure I could feel something going on underneath it. The dentist removed that crown as well at my insistence, and said there was some decay but it didn't look too serious. He put another temp on and we waited.

To be honest, it was often hard to distinguish between the pain of one or the other teeth, especially since the worst of it seemed to be coming from between the two teeth (that gum margin/biologic width issue I suppose). I felt sensitivity to cold (especially liquids) and and some percussive pain when the tooth was tapped. But even more disturbing was a deeper pain in my jaw, and an additonal pain (like a guitar string being plucked) which recurred a few times in a row every few hours throughout the say, and seemed to run along my jawline. I wonder if this is a ligament or a nerve, but forgot to ask the perio about it. He thought that the pain that radiates to my ear several times a day was from TMJ, even though it feels like an ear infection to me. I wish I had remembered to mention this other chord plunking pain, but when your list of complaints has accumulated for 9 months, I guess it's hard to fit everything in one visit.

In any event, my dentist (#2) was puzzled and sent me to an endo for a pulp test. When I showed up at the endo, however, he told me there was no need for a pulp test, the tooth was clearly sensitive and had to be root-canaled. He had time to start it then and there. UGH. I wish I had taken the time to consider this. But I was scared (am generally just terrified at the dentist anyway) and in pain.

Anyway, that's how I ended up with two root canals and two temp crowns. Lots of time and money spent, and I am still in substantial pain. Not even sure what the cause is; is the pain from the root canal? From the violation of the biologic width? Both? What about the TMJ? DO I need to have my entire bite adjusted and who should do that? Will the pain go away if I extract the tooth? Will I still have this pain with an implant? Since the immediate pain is my immediate concern, what should be the first thing I do? It would be nice to make my future decisions without this throbbing pain in my head; it's definitely hard to think straight with this BIG pain so close to my little brain.

My tooth is still pretty sore from the perio scraping. Or maybe it's just the old soreness. The perio also wants me on a soft diet for some period of time, which I guess means REALLY soft, since I have not had anything crunchy or hard (despite some bad cravings) for 9 months.

I really appreciate all your help, Bryanna. I see all these people calling out for your help and you patiently going from thread to thread dispensing knowledge and insight. We're very lucky to have you, and I do realize you may not have time to answer all the questions I just dumped in this post. I just needed to write them all down somewhere. But if you have some "extra" time and the inclination, I'd be very grateful for some advice!

Bryanna is spot on. I too had my RC'd Teeth removed. Re-treatment was a money pit. Not all dentists or specialists tell you the truth. I hope all goes well for you. ginnie

For some reason I just saw your post here. I guess my notifications are not working? In any event, thanks so much for saying this! It does seem (even to me sometimes) that I am losing my mind over this tooth at times. So, although I'm truly very sorry for your suffering, I'm glad there's a place here for us all to come for acknowledgement and answers.

I really hope your extraction went well. It does sound like you and I are in a very similar situation. All of the dentists I've seen act like pulling my tooth is the most horrible thing I could do; no one seems to even consider that I've had non-stop pain from that tooth since December. I will have to find your other posts to see what your exact situation is, but I hope the extraction brings an end to your pain!

Thanks again!

Yeah Sadie, they acted like me wanting the tooth gone was ridiculous, my first dentist actually laughed at me when I suggested it! It wasn't until I cried at an appointment with my new dentist that she caved and reffered me to an oral surgeon for extraction. My dentist was so dramatic saying, "it is so sad that we couldn't save the tooth...i wanted to save the tooth...i tried to save it...this is such a SHAME...i wish there was something else i could do...to have you get it pulled is such a loss...it is devastating really...i wish there was another way..."

Yes! They are SO disappointed- in their inability to save your tooth, but also in you and your lack of resolve to tough it out and keep treating it. My dentists/endodontists have all expressed the same frustration, as if I am giving up on life (instead of giving up on the tooth that is ruining my life). Even worse, I still haven't managed to convince anyone to do the extraction. Even after the periodontist acknowledged that both root canals were probably unnecessary. (It's funny- well, maybe not *funny*- that you had to cry to get your dentist to agree; after months of following everyone's advice and suggestions, I broke down on the phone last week with my dentist and he still doesn't want to do the extraction. It made me think that dentists must love teeth more than people. )

I hope you're feeling better!

Now I am feeling my second, most recent (two week old) root canal start to swell up. It's sensitive to touch (I haven't bitten on that side of my mouth in months, but I assume that would be painful) and seems to be feeling the same sort of pressure I felt in the first failed root canal 9 months ago (like a pressure cooker). I was hoping the second one would remain calm at least long enough for me to deal with the first one. Meanwhile, the whole left side of my face is numb from what I suppose is TMJ. FWIW, I've switched to a soft food diet in the hope that my jaw will start to heal as well.

Very disheartening evening. No idea what to do next. Just want my face to feel again, and my tooth not to feel. Wondering if this chord plucking feeling in my jaw is the periodontal ligament and if it comes out with the tooth.

/rant

I so hope things get better for you! I can't give dental advice but I can validate your feelings.

Hang in there.

Sadie how about trying a TMJ Specialist. Temporal Mandibular Joint. You have had to have you mouth open for long periods of time. It possibly is not your tooth so much as the joint. Has your Dentist mentioned this? Just a thought. Good luck and best wishes for no more pain.

Hi Sadie, Dentists, and specialists for the most part, do NOT tell people the truth about the RC. It is a high end money making adventure for them.
The tiny canals inside the teeth, cannot be reached by any method they use. There is always some infection remaining in the tooth. Dentists may disagree with this, saying their tools and potions get rid of all the infection. They can't as the canals are too tiny. Then you wind up with a "dead" tooth, not getting any nourishment, with an infection deep inside. These RC teeth act up eventually, then you get an expensive re-do. It is a temporary fix to a problem that continues. It is to "retain" the tooth for an indefinite amount of time, that's it.

I have one remaining RC tooth in my mouth. No it doesn't hurt, and has never acted up. However as soon as I get the $ together, I will have it removed.

I have auto immune problems already, and I don't want an infected tooth to put a strain on my immune system.

I am not even sure my own doctor as good as she is, would agree with this. However, just reading the number of posts there are about this, many people have RC's teeth that act up. I had three removed last year. I have a nesbit, which works very well. Implants are out of my price range.

These specialists, that do nothing but RC's ,make a huge profit for a small amount of their time to do this procedure.
I wish you all the best Sadie. ginnie

Hi sadie,

I have re read all of your posts here regarding your two root canaled teeth. I think there may have been other things going on with these two teeth in addition to the one having an ill fitting cerec crown and the other having some decay underneath the old gold crown. You have not posted any x-rays so I can only go by your descriptions.

It is not unusual for people to be unaware of problems with their teeth. Especially if the problems were silently brewing. For example.... decay underneath a crown will often have slight to no symptoms until the decay has reached the pulp or the area swells up. Other examples would be a fractured tooth or a periodontal problem with little to no symptoms.

Also any time a tooth is drilled into, there is a risk of traumatizing the nerve resulting in infection and death of the nerve. The teeth/nerves then need time to heal and calm down. Having a crown preparation done and then shortly there after having the insult of a root canal done to that same tooth causes tremendous inflammation within that tooth, with the attached ligament and with the cells around that tooth. It also causes stress on the TMJ from all the pressure being applied to the jaw during both procedures.

It is important to keep in mind that in spite of <<some>> of the nerve tissue being removed during the rc procedure, there are countless other tiny canals that will continue to contain nerve tissue. This nerve tissue dies very quickly once the blood supply is cut off. These nerves do not dissipate or vaporize... they become diseased causing additional inflammation. Sometimes the symptoms or radio-graphic pathology of this disease process is not truly evident until the infection is severe.

That guitar string plucking thing you feel in your lower jaw could be tight ligaments ... could be spasm in the muscle..... could be a secondary inflammation from the irritation that is currently brewing with both of those teeth.

Is the gum area still sore and swollen where the periodontist curettage the other day?

Bryanna