Allergy to metal in Dental Crown or just a spontaneous mouth sore? - Dental Health Message Board

Perry2 · 07-02-2008, 07:50 PM

I had some pain swallowing that started a week ago. It seemed like it could be the beginning of a cold/sore throat so I just kept waiting for it. It was a bit worse yesterday and when I looked in the mirror I was surpised to see a small red sore at the very back of my mouth between the last two molars.

The discomfort radiates a bit out and kind of down my throat. I went to a GP who said it wasn't a canker or the beginning of strep throat. He didn't know what it was and said sometimes these things just appear and then go away after a couple of weeks. He said if it was still there he would send me to an ENT guy who would maybe biopsy for cancer. The tissue around it is healthy and pink so he didn't think it looked cancerous but had not treatment suggestions and was generally a bit clueless.

But while I was looking aI noticed for the first time that the dark metal of a crown on the closest molar to the sore was exposed. This is fairly recent as my dentist did not see it last month at my checkup. He is off on holidays so I made an appt to see another dentist. Could the metal in the crown be related to the sore. I always thought dental work was non allergenic and I have 5 crowns and have never had sores before.

I don't want to sound paranoid, and perhaps the MD was disinterested in a diagnosis because these things are common and not usually armful, but I sort of think sores can't just appear out of nowhere. Anyone?

Thelma-Louise · 07-02-2008, 11:23 PM

Well the fact that the margin of the crown is now exposed more than before seems to indicate some retraction of the gum tissue in the area possbily due to an infection nearby. If not your own dentist, you may want to see an endontist to see if the tooth is infected, even if it previously had a root canal or a periodontist to see if this is gum/bone related - it is not unusual for debris to sometime build up around a crown and cause superficial or underlying gum infections. Try rinsing with warm salted water several times a day - if this is the start of an infection it may help draw it out.