Crown Sensitivity: A Look At This Common Side Effect

After you have your new crown put into place, you may spend some time admiring the appearance of your newly improved tooth in the mirror. A dental crown will protect your tooth from damage for years to come and will likely allow you to keep that tooth in your mouth when it otherwise might have been lost. But there is one worrying symptom that might appear in the meantime: crown sensitivity. Here's a closer look at this side effect and how it may affect you.

What is crown sensitivity?

Crown sensitivity is pain in a tooth that has been newly fitted with a crown. This pain typically appears when you expose the tooth to heat or cold. It may also appear if you bite down on something too strongly. Many patients with crown sensitivity panic and assume something is wrong with their crown, but this is rarely the case. Crown sensitivity is very normal and common after having a tooth capped. It subsides in a few weeks to a few months, depending on the patient.

What causes crown sensitivity?

Before the crown was placed on your tooth, your dentist probably did a procedure – such as a filling or repairing a crack. If the damage came close to the tooth pulp, which is the center portion of the tooth that contains the nerves, the procedure may have irritated these nerves slightly. They're now a bit overly sensitive, so they're causing you pain whenever you activate them with pressure, heat, or cold. In the following days and weeks, this inflammation will subside and your nerves will become less irritated. The sensitivity should gradually subside and then disappear.

What can you do about crown sensitivity?

The best strategy is just to avoid hot and cold foods and biting down too firmly until the sensitivity subsides. If it's really bugging you, try placing a dab of clove essential oil in the gums around your crowned tooth. The essential oil may help calm down the nerves more quickly. You can also apply numbing gel – the type meant for teething babies – to the area.

If the sensitivity does not improve greatly within a month or so, contact your dentist. There is a small chance there is still some decay in the tooth under your crown or that the crown is not fitted properly to your tooth. You should also contact your dentist if the pain becomes constant, rather than just appearing in response to triggers like heat and cold. Contact a dentist, such as Gregg Mond DMD, for more information. 

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