Oral Health Community

Hi Klesterr,

It's now a couple of days later... how are you doing?

Hi Klesterr,

Hopefully you are feeling better by now.

The tissue around a crown preparation (where the tooth has been prepared for a cap) is often irritated simply due to the fact that there has been drilling on the affected tooth.

In general, although I cannot diagnose online, there is only a small likelihood of this being an allergic reaction. Chances are good that you have had contact to acrylic during your life and unless you developed an allergic response to acrylic in your past this most likely represents a contact (not allergic) response to the temporary crown on somewhat irritated gingiva (gum) tissue.

The permanent crown will be made of porcelain and metal and will be smooth to the touch and not physically irritating. The temporary crown is just that, temporary, and is meant to be a "place holder" to protect the crown preparation and maintain normal occlusion.

Your tongue is most likely responding to the somewhat rough edges of the acrylic crown and you may have developed a traumatic ulcer. If you have developed a traumatic ulcer (canker sore) it should resolve on its own within a week or so after the temorary crown has been replaced with the permanent crown. There is also a strong possibility that you bit your tongue while it was still numb immediately after the tooth was prepared. In most cases, however, traumatic ulcers on the tongue typically develop secondary to contact irritation with the temporary crown.

Fortunately, this will get better after the permanent crown is placed. The burning should resolve once the contact irritation is gone. Give it some time but it will get better. If it does not get better, if the burning persists or your taste does not return to normal there are specialists in oral medicine who can address these issues. But again, give it some time to get better on its own.

I hope this helps!

Dr. Gwen Cohen Brown