[BerkshireGrl]

Hello everyone,

On Weds. 12/27, I had my first crown (temp for now) put on my left lower furthest back molar. There was a LOT of drilling. I went in at 4 and was told I'd be out around 4:45 but it was really 5:20 when I was set free from the chair of doom. (I love my dentist so far but this stunk.)

The reason I relay this story of woe is that I cracked my tooth grinding it in my sleep, despite wearing a night guard, ack! Of course after I found out that I had cracked THAT tooth, I remembered the night guard was cracked in that spot before I broke the tooth Of course, night guards being like $350, I was not in a big hurry to rush out and replace it. Duh, so now I'm paying $450 for the crown! Thank God I just got dental insurance this year or it'd be $915! (EGADS!)

While I await my "real" crown, due to arrive in 3 weeks...

My first question to all you lovely happy toothed people is: Is it normal to still have a pretty good amount of pain 3 days post-appointment?

I mean, I can chew really soft foods on it if it ends up there in my mouth, but I am trying to chew only on the right side of my mouth. Even not chewing, it feels like a constant dull ache. Is this discomfort normal after getting a temp crown glued on? (I am planning on calling my dentist Tuesday but I thought I'd ask you all too, you being more unbiased then my dentist may be.)

And my other question is: has anyone had any luck with STOPPING their teeth grinding?

If so, how? Exercise? Meditation? I've even recently read that getting enough Magnesium can stop teeth-grinding! A French dentist did a study where he found 150 mg of Magnesium a day stopped it... So needless to say, I am making sure for the past couple days that my Mg uptake is solid It might take 5 months I read to halt it, but God, that'd be awesome!

I'm getting paranoid that I will have little white bumps for teeth in 10 years! I have been grinding them for years; first had it pointed out to me by a dentist around 1995 when he said I was flattening my teeth. The problem is getting worse, my jaw aches most days, my teeth are getting tilted in towards my tongue, and obviously, there must be a heck of a ton of pressure if I cracked a molar. I am almost at my wit's end... the only time I don't do this is when I go on vacation. Maybe I just need to go sit at Thich Nhat Hahn's feet and focus on Zen. I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say I almost cry over this. It's so frustrating to have this unconscious and powerfully destructive habit! Argh!!!

Much thanks to anyone with answers!

[liz321]

Well number one find a new dentist.....a good one can do a permanent crown on the spot especially with the amount of money yours is charging...also I am hoping with the amount of time you spent there you had a root canal as well....which means you should not have any pain....I unfortunately know of what I speak....I have had loads of work done on my mouth.
As far as grinding goes...a good mouth guard for sure...and how about a medication at bed time that helps you relax along with relaxation exercises before bed and calming music, maybe journalling away all your tension before bed...just a few ideas.

Liz

[melekalikimaka]

Sarah, I feel your pain! No, really, I do. I am a bruxer (tooth grinder) when I sleep as well and have gone through 2 nightguards in the last year. Have you asked your dentist if maybe orthodontics may help? Getting your teeth in perfect alignment may help with the bruxism. Also, what position do you sleep in? I was sort of a side/face-down sleeper--this aggravated my tooth grinding, I guess because it was putting way more pressure on one side of my face. When I forced myself to sleep either on my back or only on my side it helped.

I've never read about Magnesium helping with the problem, but it sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

As for the pain with your temp crown, you may want to keep an eye on the gum line for swelling. The dull ache may be normal since there has been a lot of recent trauma to the area, but sometimes a crown can be seated too near the gumline causing pain. Do OTC pain killers work for you? Like ibuprofen? Oh by the way, I'm no expert by any means, but I have worked in a specialty dental office for 7 years in the past, plus I still have many dentist friends who I can pick their brains for info. I hope you get some relief soon.

[Jasmine31]

I don't have much advice but just wanted to give ya a I know dental work can be really annoying! I was always good about brushing but was always scared to go to the dentist! My bestfriend had told me 10 years ago that a root canal was worse than childbirth! I was scared to go!

Unfortunately when I was pg with one of my kids I got sick and with not being able to take anything, I resorted to cough drops and even went to bed with one in my mouth for like a month it seemed! Naturally that led to one part of my tooth coming out and instead of getting it taken care of I let it go for a few years. Now that I am on such a big healthy lifestyle endeavor, I knew I needed to take care of my teeth as well. The damage? 1 root canal, 6 teeth that needed to come out and maybe 7 or 8 drills and fills!

Good Lord! I was sorry I had not gone sooner! I dragged it out over like 6 months. I am finally all done now the day after x~mas. The first two pulls went fine. The drill was annoying and I was more scared of the root canal looming than the pulls! Next up was the root canal and it was long and tedious and I was nervous but it was fine. I hated to have to keep going back and then it was, "Oh we need an authorization". Then you go again and it's , "We need to send out for the crown". etc. Ugghh!! I just wanted to get it over with! Finally got that done. Unfortunately a month ago when they had me in there I was there for like 3 hours with drills and fills and I think delivery of the crown.

They had to medicine me up a few times and they were going to pull the other 4, but oh my Lord! I could feel it when they were pulling the first two!!! It was terrible!! Joe was with me but it hurt like heck and they kept stopping and even tried numbing me up again but it didn't work! I was starting to have a panic attack and I started crying cause it hurt so bad. As much as I wanted to get it over with there was no way I could. I was scared I would have a full fledge panic attack and puke to boot.

Joe said lets wait til next time and I said the same. I hoped that next time would be better and that the medicine would work okay since it hadn't been 3 hours since the first dose etc. Was really dreading going back but knew I had to. The bottom back one was rough getting out, I didn't feel pain, but like alot of pulling. A few times he was pulling so hard I thought he would break my jaw!!! Joe was trying to hold my head in place. They finally got that out and the second wasn't as bad. Thank God I got thru it. Thankfully all the ones that couldn't be saved were from the back so aren't noticable but next year I am going to have something put in.

The point I was getting to is you are not alone and I know how upsetting all this can be! I wish you the best in all this!!

About it still hurting: Did they give you amoxcillin for any infections? I always get that and ibuprofen every time I go. I don't remember much pain after the crown delivery etc so call your dentist!

[BerkshireGrl]

Thank you for your replies!

Liz: I've talked to a few coworkers and $915 pre-insurance around here (Western Mass) is not out of sight and they had temp crowns too. God knows I WISH it was over but I guess that is the modus operandi around these parts heh! No, no root canal, nuts eh? I thought I'd be out of that pretty fast but criminy, that was a lot of drilling. I hate drilling, the sound, the having my mouth cranked open, the smell of burning tooth, ewwww... makes me shiver. I am going to get a new nightguard ASAP; I am planning on calling Tuesday morning and saying I need one NOW. There is no way in he** that I am going to risk cracking another tooth! Not a bad idea about the relaxing meds and the calming music and journaling! Thank you very much! Worst case scenerio, I read docs can inject the muscle with botox and reduce its crushing power

melekalikimaka: I have thought about getting braces put back on (I had them for a couple years in my teens) to restore my alignment. They were perfect in my early 20s but then I stupidly removed the "permanent retainer" (curved wire glued in behind my front lower teeth) around that same time... and as my bottom teeth shifted, so did the top, gradually overlapping or turning sideways in one case. It's amazing but your teeth NEVER stop moving. My old orthodontist told me they would be "set" when the braces were removed but maybe only with the retainer glued in for the rest of my life. I am trying though to avoid getting braces again just due to the $$$. I don't have $3,000 or so to toss at my teeth at the moment but we shall see what needs to be done. If I have to, I will work out some kind of monthly payment deal... because obviously I want my real teeth to last, I don't want dentures in a few years! I am also a face-down/side sleeper. I will try the back method My tooth still aches; could be the gum trauma. I have some aspirin which is not as good as Advil for swelling; I'll pick up some Advil Monday.

Jasmine: Oh. My. GOD! Man, you have had it waaaay worse than me, my sympathies! I had a lot of teeth pulled growing up (12 adult ones) because I inherited my dad's big teeth and my mom's tiny mouth; it was like a crazy teeth farm in there! Wow... you get a hug right back! In fact, ANYONE that has had to suffer through dental pain gets a BIG HUG!

I am not on any antibiotics; I don't think I have an infection, just a dull ever-present ache. I got an infection once from an impacted wisdom tooth and that was pure agony; though it made the choice not to eat really easy! I will buddy up with aspirin for now... and give the dentist's office a ring on Tuesday morning!

Thanks everyone again!

[Jasmine31]

Thanx hun! You have had 12 adult teeth pulled? That is more than me sweetie!! What have you done to replace them? They told me something about a partial so when i get taxes back I will have to then. Have you heard anything about those?

Look up online about what to do to prevent teeth grinding. I know once in a while I wake up in the middle of the nite doing it and stop but it is very rare. Call your dentist and see why it is still aching. Good luck hun!