I had a filling in a tooth which started developing sensitivity to hot and cold. My dentist suggested I get a CEREC crown. I’ve had a traditional crown before and there was pretty much instant relief. This has been different. Several days later I was still hurting. I went back and he adjusted the crown. I felt a tiny bit more relief but nothing like I had with the traditional crown. He still didn’t feel a root canal treatment was necessary. He checked back with me a week later and I was still hurting. He told me if it was still hurting in eight weeks to come back in. Gradually, as I got close to the eight week deadline, it started feeling better. In fact, I don’t have sensitivity or any pain at all. Is that just how long it takes for a CEREC crown to do the job?

Gary

Dear Gary,

I am glad you wrote. No, the is not a characteristic of a CEREC crown. They are usually better fit that traditional crowns because they are milled by a computer. I am a bit baffled by your dentist’s decision to go straight to a crown. If a tooth is sensitive to both hot and cold, going straight to putting a crown on it will also add to the irritation. It would be better to remove your filling and decay, then use bonding material and a glass ionomer. If the tooth settles down, then a crown alone will be fine. If the pain worsens, then you need a root canal treatment as well.

My recommendation is that you have another dentist x-ray your tooth to look at it. You are feeling better now. A likely scenario is that the pulp inside the tooth had died and that is why it is no longer hurting. That means if there is an infection then it will need treatment to get better. Eventually, it will spread outside the tooth. Untreated tooth infections are dangerous.

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