I had some dental bonding done years ago on my two front teeth because of an accident. Now, about ten years later the bonding is looking pretty rough so I decided to bite the bullet and get the work redone. My dentist thought doing crowns would be better and did four of them so that my teeth would match. The four teeth do match each other, but not quite the other teeth. That’s not why I’m writing, though. The dental crowns feel really weird and heavy. They hit my other teeth in a way that makes it hurt when I chew. Is it possible that I have a cavity or infection under one of them? Is it a dental emergency?

Emma

Dear Emma,

A simple x-ray will tell you if there is an infection under one of those crowns, However, you said it hurts when you bite down but did not mention it hurting any other time. This make me think that the problem is the fit of the crowns and not what is underneath them.

I’d like you to get a second opinion on the fit of these crowns. I would not consider it a dental emergency, but I would try to get in as soon as possible simply because you are uncomfortable.

The fact that your dentist gave you four dental crowns to replace dental bonding on just two teeth makes me wonder about his ethics. This was a massive overtreatment.

On top of that, he told you that you needed four dental crowns in order to make them match. That is not true. A skilled cosmetic dentist can even match a single crown to the rest of teeth. Even then, he couldn’t match the four crowns to the remainder of your teeth.

I don’t know if you went back to have your dentist look at these, but the pain could be solved by a simple adjustment. If he doesn’t solve the problem or tries to tell you everything is fine, then I would definitely get that second opinion.

Don’t tell them who provided your dental crowns, just that they hurt when you bite down. Dentists know each other and you don’t want them worried about critisizing a friend’s work. If he or she asks, just explain you want an unbiased opinon. They should respect that.

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