I have no idea what is going on. I had five dental crowns placed onto my top teeth. The area near the crowns on the roof of my mouth is super itchy. On top of that, I’ve been grinding my teeth. I’ve never done this in my life but just can’t seem to help it. There seem to always be weird sensations and feelings bugging me. I don’t know what to do. I went to my dentist and he said it is just a matter of getting used to them. This is driving me mad. Could he be overlooking something?

Joanna

Dear Joanna,

You’ll get used to it? That’s all he said? Bear in mind that I haven’t examined you but I think you’ve got two issues going on here. Let’s start with the grinding. This is a huge problem and can destroy your bite causing you to need a full-mouth reconstruction. I can’t believe your dentist didn’t address this.

What you need is a mouth guard to wear until the grinding stops. It could be that the dental crowns have somehow messed with your bite. If it has been knocked out of whack, this could be why you are grinding your teeth. Your body is trying to get things back where they should be. Your dentist needs to adjust these crowns so they don’t feel weird to you.

However, there may be a second issue. If your mouth is itchy near the backing of the crowns you could have a metal allergy. One common metal allergy is to nickel. You can find out if that is in it because your dentist will have a certificate identifying each type of element used.

You May Need a Holistic Dentist

It doesn’t sound like your dentist is caring a great deal about what is going on with this. He’s even ignored important, obvious problems. He may not want to be bothered with a patient’s metal sensitivities. If that is the case, and I suspect it is, I’d like you to just get a refund from your dentist and see a holistic dentist.

These dentists will be much more willing to work around any allergies or sensitivities you have. They can provide you with metal-free dental crowns.

Truthfully, the best cosmetic dentists understand beauty and aesthetics. They would never place metal-based crowns on front teeth anyway. This is because these dentists know they tend to look more opaque than natural teeth. Plus, they always eventually develop an unsightly gray line at your gumline.

This blog is brought to you by San Antonio Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Imam.