I got a crown done on an upper molar in 1999.  After a few months I was still
having a lot of pain in that tooth.  

I went back to the dentist and he told me he would have to do a root canal.
So he took the crown off, did the root canal, and then put the crown back on
(it did not crack when he took it off).  This was in 2000.  

This tooth has been hurting on and off since then.  The toothache visits me
about 2-3 times a year and sticks around for about 2-3 weeks.  My dentist
could not figure out why I was still having pain in that molar.  Nothing
showed in x-rays, etc.  

Then about 3 years ago, my dentist referred me to a root canal specialist who
could only tell me he would not be able to tell me what needed to be done
until he took the crown off, and suggested that I get both crown and root
canal done again at his office.  I said screw it, and did not go back to the
specialist.  

I had the toothache last summer for about 2 weeks and it went away.  Now it
is back with a vengeance.  I had my husband take a look and he said I had a
cavity.  I said no way and he offered to take a picture with his digital
camera.  He took the picture and showed it to me.  

The crown was cracked!  I have no idea when this could have happened.  I saw
my dentist (still the same one from 6 years ago) in Oct. 2005 and he didn't
say anything about the crown being crack, damaged, etc.  

The crack is right in the middle of the crown and it is about 0.1 cm in
diameter.  I can see the metal casting underneath it.  It hurts tremendously.

I'm in a crunch money-wise because I ended up dishing out 30% of $9,250 just
this morning to get my husband's teeth fixed (I have been telling him to go
and see a dentist for the past seven years and he ignored me until one of his
frontal teeth finally began to hurt!  Guess what?  He needs TWO implants
among other things.  We have to pay rest of the bill over the next 3 months
or so).  

Can anyone tell me what my options are?  

I do not want my dentist to work on this tooth again, because to be honest, I
no longer trust his work.  My husband is seeing an implant specialist instead
of my regular dentist (meaning no insurance coverage), so it may mean I don’t
have much of an option.  If I called up my regular dentist, is there any
chance he would offer to fix it for not too much money?  Or would it end up
being more expensive this time?  Should I just get the implant specialist to
work on it?  

I brush my teeth several times a day and floss everyday, too.  Since I began
flossing everyday, my regular cleaning hardly lasts more than 10 minutes
because the dentist tells me there is not much build-up.  You don’t think I
brushed my crown away, do you?  Is that even possible?  

This thing hurts like the devil!!!!!