You know, I am going through a similar problem..
I had to have a tooth extracted and since I can't afford an implant, I decided to go ahead with a bridge.
Well, I did have a filling in one of the teeth that they cut down and they did xrays and everything. They fit me with temp crowns until my bridge came in. I did have to return to the dentist as the one crown on the possible-root-canal-tooth-in-question was too large.
I went in the other day to get my permanent bridge on. I told them that I have had some pain which went away after taking ibuprofen... I just assumed it was due to the problems I had with the temp crown. Well, they numbed me to continue taking the temp crowns off (as it really hurt!!!) and did another set of xrays. I could hear them speaking in the hall about "the real question is 'is this tooth saveable?'" I didn't know if they were talking about me or not.
The dentist came into my room and said that they were going to put the bridge in temporarily and have me come back in a week. He said that hopefully this is just transitional pain, if not the one tooth will need a root canal.
Now, I was wondering if that shouldn't have been noticed prior to putting a temp on. And is my dentist making up this "transitional pain" just so I don't freak out about having to get a root canal? I am a huge baby when it comes to all things dental.
It hurts a lot less now than it did, so maybe he wasn't making it up, but then what if I am just trying to convince myself that things are better just because I don't want to think about getting a root canal...?? I have some "sensation" in that side of my face/mouth, but I do know that it most definitely isn't the same type of pain I felt before at this point at least.