Cold sensitivity for two to four weeks after a crown is expected and settles on its own; pain that wakes you at night or lingers after the cold is gone does not.
Two to four weeks is the normal window, and the reason is anatomical: preparing a tooth for a crown cuts through enamel into dentine, and dentine is not solid but crossed by microscopic tubules filled with fluid that run towards the nerve. Cold, air and sweetness move that fluid, and the nerve reads the movement as a short, sharp signal. The pulp also reacts to the heat and vibration of preparation with mild, reversible inflammation. Both effects fade as the tubules seal and the inflammation resolves, which is why the sensitivity is temporary rather than permanent.
First, a high bite: a crown even a fraction of a millimetre proud concentrates every clench on one tooth, producing pressure pain rather than cold pain. It is corrected in ten minutes with articulating paper. Second, an open or leaking margin, letting fluid reach dentine directly. Third, a pulp already damaged by deep decay or an old filling that has now tipped from reversible to irreversible inflammation, which shows itself as throbbing at night.
A high bite is adjusted and polished at no charge, and we would rather you flag it in the first days than tolerate it for a month. A leaking margin means the crown is remade. A pulp that has died needs root canal treatment at 120 EUR, done through a small access hole in the zirconium crown which is then sealed, so the crown itself does not have to be sacrificed. Sensitivity that increases rather than decreases after week two is the pattern to report.
Use a potassium nitrate desensitising toothpaste, applied with a fingertip on the neck of the tooth at night and not rinsed off, for three to four weeks. Avoid very cold drinks on that side for the first week and do not chew ice. If you grind at night, a guard protects the ceramic and reduces load on an already irritated pulp. Patients who have flown home can send photographs and reach the clinical team on WhatsApp at +905402555055.
That combination usually points to the bite rather than the nerve, and it is the easiest problem on this list to fix. Do not wait for it to wear in — a high contact loads the periodontal ligament and can make an otherwise healthy tooth ache for weeks.
Most patients notice a clear improvement within days, because the permanent crown seals the dentine far better than a temporary one does. If sensitivity is worse after the permanent crown is cemented, the bite is the first thing to check.