Extreme Sensitivity To Cold - Urgent Question (tooth, hurts, pain)

[intothelight]

Hello Everyone:

I had a crown on an existing tooth. There was decay under it, so they ripped off the old crown, drilled away the decay, and put a temporary back on. The tooth is now extremely sensitive to cold - even breathing in with just slightly cool air hurts. Even more since the temporary is having trouble staying on. There was a bit of sensitivity with the old permanent crown. Dentist is saying they are certain that once they put the new crown on, there won't be any sensitivity at all. That all my sensitivity was caused by the temporary just not sealing correctly. Does this need a root canal? Is it really bad to have to rip off crowns and put new ones on? Does that make it more likely a RCT will fail? Please help if you can. Thanks,

[toofache32]

If the sensitivity doesn't go away, the next step is usually a root canal which removes the nerve inside the tooth so there is no more pain originating from the tooth. This can often be done through an existing crown so that a new crown is not needed. Regardless of what happens in your future, talk to your dentist about how you should brush and floss around the crown. You said that there was new decay under your old crown, which means you weren't cleaning it adequately. Crowns and fillings replace damaged parts of the tooth, but they do not stop the disease process which only you can prevent by keeping it clean. Once you have a crown, that tooth requires MORE attention to keep it clean....which is difficult for most patients because this lack of hygiene is usually what caused them to need a crown in the first place.