I am scared this is hopeless situation, so please let me know your thoughts. Both of my front teeth are crowned. On the right side, I have a crowned tooth and right next to that, a three crown bridge. The crowned tooth next to the right front tooth is... painful. Sensitive to hot and cold.

Does this mean an abscess (the dentist xrayed the general area last week and saw nothing, but the pain has moved around and settled with a vengeance into the rightmost "eye" tooth.

If there is an absess or infection, will the tooth need to be removed and recrowned?

Or can it be recrowned? Would I instead need an Implant?

How will this affect the bridge?

Finally, how in the world do I have an absess where there is (presumably) a root-canaled tooth with a crown over it?

Does this happen a lot to crowns?

:(

I have crowns and some root canalled but have never had any problems in about 30 years. It could be possible that your gums have receded around the crown and the tooth exposed is sensitive. I don't believe you can get an abcess from a tooth that is already root canalled, unless it is a molar which has four roots and they only had to do two canals.