Do dental crowns hurt? How to ease pain after dental crowns?

Porcelain crowns are a common dental restoration option preferred by many people. However, when considering this procedure, most still hesitate, wondering if it causes significant pain.

In recent years, thanks to the development of medicine, dental crown technologies are getting more and more advanced. Nevertheless, it’s understandable to be wary of this dental restoration method.

When are porcelain crowns indicated? Is the procedure painful? If you share the same concerns, read on to find your peace of mind.

Porcelain dental crowns – A new-gen orthodontic technique

Dental crowning is an advanced technique in modern dentistry used to restore and improve the appearance of your teeth, giving you beautifully straight and naturally white teeth within the shortest time. Technically, dental crowns only affect the exterior of your teeth.

Initially, your dentist will file your teeth down to a cylinder shape, then cover them with a porcelain layer in order to protect your natural teeth as well as restore their shape. That way, you will have a new set of teeth looking very natural and even more beautiful than your original one regarding both the shape and color.

Nowadays, dental crowns are a quite popular orthodontic technique that draws many people’s interest for its short treatment duration and minimal impact on patients’ life quality. This technique may be indicated for you in cases of:

• Widely-spaced, crooked, misaligned teeth, or slight overbite or underbite
• Severely decayed teeth; teeth with such big cracks that can’t be helped with dental fillings; or pulpitis
• Severely stained or discolored teeth, or serious enamel erosion

Why is tooth reduction necessary when crowning?

When carrying out the process of dental porcelain, the dentist will have to file down a layer of teeth about 0.6 - 2.5mm to create a space for crowns. If the remaining tooth is not strong enough, a base crown will be applied to support the crowns. Therefore, if you do not file down the real teeth, it will not be possible to attach crowns to porcelain teeth.

Can porcelain veneers be crowned without teeth reduction?

Porcelain veneer is considered a more optimal method for those who are afraid to file their teeth or teeth that are not strong enough to apply porcelain crowns. To apply porcelain veneer, dentists just need to sharpen a thin layer of teeth, never invasive into the root and the pulp, ensuring dental health and safety, just as effective as covering porcelain teeth.

Do dental crowns hurt?

Dentists with many years of experience state that it is untrue to say dental crowns don’t hurt at all. This is because before the crowns are attached to your teeth, the dentist will file down some of your natural enamel for better adhesion.

However, with the development of modern medicine, there are types of anesthesia that can help save patients from all the pain and discomfort during a dental crown procedure or any other dental restoration methods. Although dental crowns basically won’t hurt as much as we think, you will still experience pain during and following receiving dental crowns for the following reasons:

During the procedure:

• Failure to treat any oral disease before getting dental crowns: If you have oral conditions such as tooth decay and gum inflammation that have not been addressed prior to receiving dental crowns, chances are you will experience greater discomfort and pain during the procedure.
• Overly invasive technique used on natural teeth by the dentist: During the tooth reshaping process, if your dentist is not careful enough that the inner layers of your teeth are excessively affected, you may experience numbness and sharp pain.
• Low-quality anesthesia or improper dosage: The amount of anesthesia administered during the treatment is of great importance. An overdose may lead to poisoning while an insufficient amount will result in numbness, sharp pain, and discomfort.

After the procedure:

• Inaccurate bite adjustment: Before getting the crowns fixed in place, your dentist will try attaching them to your reshaped teeth and adjust them until the bite is correct. If this process is not carried out properly, you will experience feelings of a budge, obstruction, and discomfort, resulting in sharp pain every time you bite or chew
• Failed root canal: If you have tooth decay or periodontitis, your dentist will completely remove the dental pulp before putting the crowns on. Failed root canal may lead to sharp pain after dental crowning.
• Gingivitis: This is also a common complication during the treatment. It occurs when the dentist gets too deep into the dental structure and file down the teeth too much, allowing for bacterial invasion. This will damage the root and surrounding tissue, resulting in inflammation and infection

All in all, whether dental crowns hurt or not depend greatly upon the experience of the dentist as well as the medical techniques and equipment used during the treatment. Therefore, if you want to get dental crowns, it is crucial to find a reliable dental clinic and a highly-qualified dentist.

How to manage pain after dental crowns

If you experience sharp pain following your dental crown treatment, keep in mind the following:

• Do not use pain killers or other home remedies for pain relief on your own as this can cause unpredictable complications.
• Visit an odonto-stomatology hospital or a reliable dental clinic to detect the cause of your pain and receive timely treatment.
• If it is the remaining dental pulp that is causing you pain, the dentist will remove the crowns and carry out another canal root to get rid of all the pulp and ensure that there will be no numbness and pain after the procedure
• If it’s caused by a bulge or obstruction resulting from the crowns not fitting the filed teeth properly, leading to misalignment, another restoration procedure is required. Once the crowns have been placed correctly, the patient won’t experience any pain with chewing foods or other everyday activities

The above information should have answered your question about whether dental crowns hurt or not. Generally speaking, the answer to this question depends vastly on the dental clinic that you choose.

Therefore, if you plan on getting dental crowns or other orthodontic procedures, the most important thing is finding a reliable, quality dental clinic with a team of experienced, qualified dentists to avoid the risk of pain and undesired complications.

Learn more: Finding the truth: Are dental crowns actually harmful?