Pain After \dental Bridge
 

Hi, please can anyone help!! Had a dental bridge 9weeks ago and have had toothache ever since, had a night guard from dentist which did not help and various readjustments ("Shavings") Saw an endontist on holiday in US who said I did not need root canal (my own dentist had also said this) Pain subsides after "shavings for 1-2 days then comes back in full force. saw dentist last wek and she said next option would be RC but it may not solve problem! Now adjacent teeth aching and will be going back to Dentist today. Have no gum inflammation or swelling and pain does not bother me through the night but starts as soon as I wake up. My gut feeling is that the bridge may be too tight and would takng the bridge away first be a better option than rushing in with a RC? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks

Hi Eenie,

If you did not have any pain prior to the installation of that bridge and your radiographs show no pathology, meaning no infection on any of the teeth, then it may be best to have it removed and redone. Are any of the teeth associated with this bridge root canaled?

Bryanna

Pain after dental bridge
 

Hi Bryanna, thanks for reply. Saw another dentist in practice today and he thinks problem is to do with gum area over bridge. More tests and definitely no nerve death, although he did say it could be dying!! Put some herbal ointment round bridge and it is at least 80% better (Think it has oil of cloves in) So fingers crossed. But am not letting them rush into RC. Have never had RC. Basically this is the first dental problem I've had for at least 20years, so suppose I've been lucky. Radiographs (x3) at different times showed no pathology. fingers crosed

Hi Eenie,

So that's good that there's no obvious tooth infection brewing!!

The gum area that you speak of .... I'm assuming it is along the gumline where the bridge meets the gum and it is perhaps a bit inflamed?

Sometimes the actual gumline margins of the crown/bridge are what is called subgingival (below the gumline) making that area irritated/inflamed or supragingival (far above the gumline) making it a trap for plaque. Either of these situations can cause a constant gum irritation and discomfort. In either case, usually thorough brushing and flossing will keep the irritation to a minimum. If the irritation becomes chronic, then a deep pocket will develop and the tooth will become compromised.

Sometimes the angle of the bridge is compromised for whatever reason and one or more of the units of the bridge are pressing into the gum tissue. This is not acceptable and means the bridge needs to be redone.

The herbal ointment is most likely oil of cloves and a local anesthetic. This is usually used to reduce the inflammation, but it's not necessarily a cure if the culprit of the irritation has something to do with your bridge. This ointment is also applied to a canker sore ulcer for temporary relief. Perhaps you have a little ulcer there?

Glad you have relief... hopefully it will stay that way!
Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna. The gum area that seems to be causing the problem is the middle of the crowns. (1 crown either side of where tooth was removed) Hope that makes sense! Have slight toothache today but nowhere near as bad as it has been .Am going to contact dentist again today as my own dentist is back. Think it could be a bridge problem as both crowns ache. One tooth was slightly painful to tapping, where 2 weeks ago both were! Think I have a gremlin in my mouth!! Dentist did say that if I got relief yesterday it would be the gum causing the problem, but from your reply and my symptoms I'm not so sure! Thanks again.

Hi Eenie,

The middle crown?? That's the pontic/fake tooth. Is that portion of the bridge jammed into that gum tissue? Is there room to get a floss threader underneath that area comfortably?

If both anchor teeth are healthy and they were not hurting prior to the placement of this bridge.... then it could be the fit of the bridge that is causing excessive pressure on those anchor teeth. In that case, the bridge would need to be redone or the periodontal ligaments that hold those anchor teeth in the bone are going to become very inflamed and both teeth could die. It could also be the bite is not lined up properly and you may be clenching during your sleep. If it is the bite, then when you wake up in the morning you would feel some achiness....pain... tenderness in the jaw.... which could subside or get worse as the day goes on.

Is anything temperature sensitive?

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna, think I'm getting somewhere at last! saw Dentist yesterday, nothing temperature sensitive and plenty of room to get floss underneath fake tooth. I do have pain/tenderness when I wake up but have a night guard (although have not been able to use it for 1week) dentist in US did wonder if I could be allergic to any material in the bridge and my own dentist also wondering this now. She was going to remove the bridge yesterday and give me a temporary one, but I had to go to work. Her day off today so am having procedure tomorrow. She is talking about maybe a gold backed one (think that's right) Funnily enough, the pain went completely about 5pm yesterday and has just
returned now, but only about 2 on a scale of 1 - 10.

Sorry, computer went weird and I couldn't finish. I'm hoping ligaments going to be ok. She said that although indication was that there was no nerve death they could be dying! Bite was checked and fine, also checked in US. Will kep you informed and many thanks for your support. Eenie

Hi Eenie,

Ok... not temp sensitive....can floss underneath .... ok good.
Allergy to the metal....that's a possibility, although that would not cause the teeth to hurt. It would cause the gum tissue to inflame and possibly canker sores to develop. I'm still leaning towards the bridge not fitting properly which is causing undue stress on those teeth and when you clench or grind on it a certain way, it gets sore under the pontic as if it were a referred pain from the pressure on both anchor teeth. If she does make a new bridge, perhaps she can have the lab fabricate it without any metal which would be called a Lava Zirconium bridge.

What teeth are involved in this bridge? Any chance you could post an xray?

Bryanna

not able to send xray images cos not able to put them online as have no photo hosting sites. Sorry.