Okay, ladies... need your help. I've always had great dental health.. only 3 fillings from my much younger years, so the fillings are getting old. I was recently told by my dentist that one of my back teeth is beginning to have fracture lines around the filling. He is recommending going ahead and getting a crown because eventually that weak part of the tooth will crack off. The question is.... how urgent is this? I have no symptoms. The hygenist could not visibly see the fracture lines (they were seen in a picture taken after the exam) and there was no movement of the tooth during the cleaning. This was not my regular dentist that I see in the office, so part of me wants to wait 5-6 months till my next visit and see what the other dentist in the practice says. I'm just not for doing stuff prematurely. Then again, if not doing it could cause bigger problems down the road, then I am all for moving forward. Anyone have any experience with this.. or suggestions on what to consider when making the decision to rush to do this, or sit back and wait a bit. Thanks so much!!
Get a second opinion, now, not in 6 months. If you wait and it ends up being root canal - that's a lot of pain and expense that could have been avoided. Damage can happen even if you can't see it.
I had to have two crowns last October - both from teeth that "cracked" due to old metal fillings. Honestly, had I known there was a life span on the things, I would have have preferred to have the work planned rather than suffer through a cracked tooth and the ensuing panic.
My sister elected to have her old metal fillings replaced, and crowned where necessary, several years ago at her dentist's advice. She has never regretted it - and I think it saved her tons of dental emergencies.
Why not schedule an earlier appointment with your regular dentist and get his opinion?
Good Luck
Years ago, we had just moved to Texas and got a new dentist. He told my husband the same thing your dentist said but my husband didn't trust him so he waited. Not long after, he cracked the tooth at breakfast. He lost the tooth and was not able to save it. It's a back tooth, so it's not noticeable, but he's been told that he may lose the top one as well because it doesn't have a tooth to push on. Needless to say, he totally trusts our dentist now and gets things done when he's told. Like someone said, most dentists are not out to get money for no reason, we just unfortunately start to break down with age and need to keep our teeth taken care of. With that said, you could probably wait 6 months with no problems but understand that you are taking a risk. Good luck.
People break teeth every day. Especially teeth with big, old fillings in them. And it's usually on a piece of bread or some oatmeal b.c the tooth is weakened and then you bite down in just the right way with just the right force and it crumbles.
Contrary to popular opinion, most dentists are not crooks trying to sell you a bunch of stuff and have a responsibility to inform you of the risks of not treating things (there are those bad apples out there of course like any profession). I'd say if you trust your dentist and he has seemed conservative and consistent in the past, I would do the treatment when you can. Waiting 4-5 months shouldn't be a huge problem, but I would baby that tooth a little. Teeth rarely have symptoms until there is already a major problem that has already advanced. T.F. is correct. You can break a tooth to the gum line, then requiring crown lengthening surgery. Sometimes there isn't enough tooth structure and the tooth has to be removed.
Now with that being said people can go years and years with giant, old fillings that never break. Just like you can go years and years without maintaining a car and not have problems and then all of a sudden a tire falls off. Personally, I believe in prevention in regard to most things in life. I feel like it's typically less expensive and stressful if you deal with it before you are forced to deal with it. Just my two cents. Good luck with your decision.
The other thing, is dentists have many different philosophies. Some are watch and wait and fix it when it breaks, but most of the more recent graduates are of the prevention mindset. Again, they have a legal responsibility to assess your risk of X happening, inform you of the treatment options for X, and let you make an informed decision.
Sounds like this guy just wants to make some money off of you!!! I would NOT do it. If you aren't having ANY pain, don't worry about it. If it ever starts to hurt, then they can do an xray and see if your root is intact... THEN they can put on a crown if your root is looking bad.
It is a gamble.
Years ago..... I had a back tooth with a very light crack per the dentist and I opted to wait until I felt like I needed to get a crown because I was skeptical of the dentist (I was fairly new to the area at the time)
Well, a couple months after the recommendation, the tooth broke below the gum line which required crown lengthening surgery which HURT and then a crown.
So it is a gamble. Since I found a dentist I like and trust, if he suggested it, i would do it, no questions asked.
I was told 9 years ago the same thing by my dentist. I don't have dental insurance, and while I liked the guy I thought I'd get a second opinion. The second opinion was that it probably wasn't immediately necessary. Needless to say, I still have the tooth and no problems with it. I'm glad I didn't spend the money. Maybe you could get a second opinion.
Ugh - it's a dilema. On one part, you want to trust the dentist and get the crown so that you don't break and lose a tooth. But on the other hand, he could be selling you something that you don't need ASAP. I hate to tell you all this but being a dentist involves a LOT of selling. Selling electric tooth brushes, whitening services and yes, crowns that you need, but maybe not until next year.
So it is up to you wether or not to take a gamble. Unless you have great insurance and a spare $1,000, I'd sit tight.
I would get a second opinion from your regular dentist. I am sure you could see him for a second opinion before your next cleaning if you are concerned. I would ask about refilling the cavity rather than getting a crown. You loose most of your tooth with a crown, so definitely try to save the tooth. I lost a filling and broke part of my tooth on a jolly rancher and my dentist refilled the cavity and fixed the broken part of my tooth. Several years later the same tooth had a crack in it so my dentist put a band around it to fix it. It has been about 10 years since he put the band around the tooth and I haven't had any problems. A crown does not need to be your first option. I would discuss it with your regular dentist.
I got a crown because I was having discomfort chewing. If I wasn't having symptoms, I probably would have waited. That said, it is a gamble. If you're lucky, you'll have warning signs like me before it gets serious and more involved intervention is needed.
Good luck,
J.
I have heard from other people to go ahead and wait but, I say if you can do it then go for it. You don't want to wait for it to get bad then you have to get a root canal. They are not fun!
