MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
As is typical in these time, I have just lost a crown. One moment, eating delicious breakfast cereal, the next holding half a tooth in my hand and feeling what appeared to be a Crossrail tunnel in my jaw.
Having spoken to both my dentist (no acute spaces today, tomorrow or early next week), the local 111 equivalent ("talk to a dentist in your current area") and a local dentist in my area (should be fine, just keep it clean and go see your normal dentist"), I have the start of a plan, but I could do with some advice from any dentists or dental nurses on the forum.
The advice seems to be, keep it clean, add a temporary filling to the top and then get to my normal dentist next week to get it fixed or get further options.
I have a time booked now for next friday (first time available), but what are my options before then? I can do a temporary filling, but is there anything else I can do to protect the remains of the tooth? If the stump is gone, is that the end of the tooth from a dentist's pov, with an implant or extraction being the only options?
Is a week too long? Should I be booking an appointment today?
I hate teeth. You spend all this time brushing twice a day, flossing, all that stuff and still they degrade. The system is almost as badly designed as knees
can you post a picture of the inside of the crown and the stump?
Is it hurting?
"Delicious breakfast cereal"?
It wasn't Dorset Cereals Super Fruity Muesli, was it? Because I lost a crown, biting on a piece of dried fruit. Unfortunately, the crown wouldn't stay in place, as I'd split the tooth through the root. I ended up with a very expensive implant.
Good luck with your appointment!
Is it hurting?
Nope, no pain. The tooth had been root canalled/canal'd(?) before so the only warning I am going to get is when shit gets real.
Will have a try of getting a picture of the two sections, but this may involve coordination and therein is a problem.
Right, let us see if this works...
So from a very “unofficial off the record advice” point of view.
Time wise it’s ok to wait to be seen.
If it’s not hurting already it’s unlikely to start in the short term since it’s root filled.
That crown isn’t going back on easily ( or at all ) since you’ve snapped the “core” ie the bit of tooth and filling that the crown sits over and around.
It is possible to “bodge” the crown back on using a post sunk down part of the root filling in one or more of the roots. This sticks up into the gap and the crown gets filled with glue and stuck back onto this bit of post sticking up. It’s not a very stable arrangement, especially in a tooth that does a lot of chewing. Probably not worth it.
It’s possible to do the same thing in a posher way and then make a new crown but again, they don’t last that well in a molar tooth and probably not worth the cost of doing it.
Your options, depending on the situation in the rest of your mouth are.....
1- cover the stump with filling at the current height and accept it as a kind of chewing surface. Remove later if it becomes painful ( unlikely in the short term)
2- remove and accept the gap. You won’t probably notice it chewing and probably not much cosmetically
3- remove and replace the tooth with something false. In this case there are basically the following options.....
A - removable partial denture or “plate” Might be worth it if you are missing other teeth and want all the gaps filled, otherwise probably more hassle than benefit
B- bridge - False tooth suspended from teeth either side. This is done either by putting caps( crowns ) over the teeth either side which are joined by a floating false tooth in the gap or by the floating tooth having small metal arms that are super glued to the teeth either side to hold the floating tooth in the gap.
The glued one is much kinder to the teeth either side but uncertain how well it will stick for a molar and visually you see lots of metal on the teeth either side of the gap
The crown based one is better aesthetically and much stronger / more predictable (& more expensive) but it will compromise your teeth either side since they are untouched by dentists drill at the moment. Making the bridge will involve cutting away healthy tooth and could lead to problems ( abscess or fracture) of the teeth either side in the future.
C- dental implant. This is the gold standard in a situation like this with a single missing tooth and healthy teeth either side. It doesn’t damage or involve the teeth either side and it is very strong. It looks closer to a real tooth as it comes up through the gum rather than floating over it ( although bridges can look very natural too! Most costly option. Probably 2.5k if you get it done by someone decent.
Hopefully that makes sense! Your dentist will hopefully give you a more accurate idea of the merits of each option based on exactly what the bit that’s left looks like and the state of you mouth in general and that guidance will help you make the right choice. I can only give general advice without actually seeing it in the flesh.
Cheers @ceepers, understand that the advice is unofficial.
I kind of guessed at the time that this was likely to be terminal for the tooth, well, more terminal, and so I am pretty much resigned to losing the remains and having to spring for an implant. A shame I am not still in the UK, my old dentist was pretty damn good for them.
Anyway, I'll get some temporary filling on there tonight to cover it up and then see what people here say next week.
As Ceepers said, do you really need the implant and the cost? I had the next one to that removed a few years back and don't miss it at all, the others around have adapted.
The extraction was another story, but OK.
Right now, I look at it and feel the gap and want there to be a decent replacement. A lot of that might be tempered by cost when/if I get to talking about implants, but I think that is an option.
Having the other teeth adjust to the missing one seems to be them making a really large move sideways...
* Not a dentist, have no idea how teeth work when you take away one of their brethren in adult life.
I don't mean the ones to the sides grow over to fill the gap, just that I can still chew on both sides without noticing the missing tooth.
IANAD either but I do think the corresponding one in the upper set is a bit more prominent without it's partner pushing back on it. But that doesn't change the smile.