I have read every post on this wonderful website and I must say that through personal experience the answer from almost every dentist is simply wrong and misleading. The question, "Is the Dental Crown procedure painful?" and the answer of "Dental crown preparation is a painless procedure", is very misleading to every patient that is asking the question. I believe this is simply a case of the patient asking the wrong question. But the dentist should know better than to provide a blanket answer. The problem lies in the details. When the question is in reference to one or two crowns at a time, then in this case the dentist is correct, there should only be some mild soreness after the procedure. But when the the procedure is that of 16 crowns at once, then the situation is completely different and the answer is to be prepared for some of the worst pain you have ever experienced. Especially if you do them all at once in a 6 hour session, followed by another 6 hour session to do the 12 front teeth. After 14 Novocain shots, 6 hours, crown prep on 16 back teeth and temps be sure to not leave your dentists chair until you have a Rx for strong pain medicine and Rx strength anti-inflammatory(such as 600mg Motrin).Also expect the day of the surgery and the 3 days after to be the worst. Make sure to take the medicin EXACTLY as prescribed, eat only very soft foods, and use an ice pack on the jaw to keep the pain in check. I have 2 children and I compared this procedure to child birth. I cried and cried for days. I am not writing this post to scare anyone, I just think it is better to know what to expect instead of being overwhelmed. I asked the same question of my dentist before the procedure and was told it would not hurt. Granted this is her first full mouth reconstruction(26 crowns) also, so I believe she truly did not know what the level of pain would be. She knows now what to expect. My reason for this post is to inform future patients about the pain so they will not enter into this procedure lightly. I believe that when someone truly needs all of there teeth covered then crowns are a much better choice than pulling all of the teeth and receiving implants especially if the roots are strong. I also believe they should know EXACTLY what to expect from such a large procedure. This is completely worth the pain, just be aware of the pain.