Oil pan pickup?

In the process of changing my motor mounts I caved the bottom of the oil pan in about an inch or so. After this (well i think it was maybe I just started noticing it?) I have noticed a slight valve tick that becomes more and less noticeable at random. Now i have been driving it like this for about a month ( I know probably not a good idea but didn't have much choice) and the temperature doesn't climb any higher than about 210 unless i'm messing around in the mud, and the oil pressure seems to be in the same range as before. The question I have is could I have pinched the oil pickup tube a little when i caved the pan? i would rather not pull the pan off so if anyone is familiar with the location of the pickup, their advice would be appreciated. Also things just get worse, When I was done with the mounts, i was so happy (it took over 4 hours) that I forgot to put the oil filter back on and drove for about 15 seconds before I realized it (the valves started ticking loudly).
so the spark notes are: do you think either the crushed pan or the running without oil created the valve tick?, and is there anything I can do about it.
thanks

So no one here has pulled their oil pan and seen where the pick up is?