Why Do I Need A Crown?
Dr Kenneth Arida has been practicing dentistry for over 35 years and has had great success providing quality care to people in his community. He has trained with the leading experts in Implantology, Cosmetic Dentistry, Advanced Restorative Dentistry, General/Family Dentistry and all associated treatments. Most patients... more
Photo: Tooth needs a crown (left)/Tooth is lost due to crack (right)
People are told all the time by their dentist that they have a tooth that should be crowned (capped is the same thing) and often they never really get an adequate explanation for this recommendation. It is important for the patient to have all of the information that leads to a dentist making the recommendation to crown a tooth. Many times we take photos that clearly show cracks, decay and other features of a tooth in need that can be very helpful for a patient to better understand why a crown is recommended. Crowning a tooth is a solution for a tooth that is weak structurally. A filling is done when a dentist removes decay in a tooth and fills the resulting hole.
When you have a filling done that winds up removing 50-80% or more of the tooth structure that you chew on then the remaining tooth is inherently very weak and prone to breaking or forming cracks. Cracks can form in many teeth over the years whether there is a filling in the tooth or not. Cracks can travel down the tooth toward the gum and into the root structure and and pose a real threat to cause the tooth to break and possibly be lost. There are times when a tooth that breaks along a fracture line will be unsavable and have to be extracted. That is truly a disaster. There are a number of factors that make a tooth more vulnerable to breaking or cracking. Some of those factors are whether you grind or clench your teeth. Other factors are if your teeth have deep grooves and sharp points, how hard you chew and which particular tooth is of concern (molar or smaller tooth). Molar teeth that are in the back of your mouth are your workhorse teeth that crush your food as you chew and over the years they can wear and crack because of the tremendous pressure that we put on them as we chew. If a tooth has a filling, it is all the more vulnerable to breakage and should be monitored for signs of cracks or excessive wear.
My father was a dentist in the forties, fifties and sixties. In his day, it was expected that patients would be missing half their teeth by age fifty five and possibly need a denture by sixty. In those days that scenario was acceptable because adults in that era were expecting to die by sixty-five or seventy! That is no longer the case. We expect to live into our nineties and would like to enjoy a quality lifestyle eating at restaurants and looking and feeling good at that ripe old age. For that to happen we need to take care of our teeth and be proactive in our care by protecting our teeth, when needed, before the damage occurs. Crowning the tooth puts a cover over the whole tooth and protects it from breaking apart, so it will last for years without cracking or splitting. Some teeth can develop cracks that travel down the root of the tooth and may cause it to split in half, a crown can help prevent this, thus saving the tooth.
If you look at the photos above, the one to the left is a tooth that needs a crown because of a large filling that weakened the tooth. Teeth like this can break in a bad way and have to be extracted. The photo to the right shows a tooth that had a root canal, which is almost always a reason to crown the tooth, but this one never got the crown and wound up cracking right down the middle.This tooth is not savable and will have to be extracted even though it had a root canal several years earlier. The patient never had the crown done and now it is too late because a bad crack has developed. Crowns are sometimes used to improve the appearance of a tooth or a whole smile. Many times we achieve the dual benefit of strengthening a tooth and making it look better at the same time. So the reasons for crowning a tooth can be an elective affair for improved appearance, but sometimes it is an important recommendation to extend the life of the tooth so that you will have that tooth for as long as you live. The stakes are high and not crowning a tooth that needs one could cause you to lose the tooth and require more involved and expensive dentistry. Final note: if your tooth needs a crown, GET IT!
Anyone is welcome to contact our office with any questions or if they would like to come visit for a free consult. Please call 908-654-6262 and we will be happy to help you.
