A crown serves a couple valuable services for your tooth. It braces and protects the tooth from fracturing under the heavy forces of biting and chewing as well as seals the tooth from the destructive and infectious affects of bacteria within the saliva. Most often a crown is recommended when it's determined that your tooth is susceptible to either fracture (a large previous filling showing signs of breaking down) or contamination from bacteria (usually after having a root canal). We see emergencies just about every day and the most common occurrence is a fractured or broken tooth. Usually the tooth has a large filling (replacing more than 1/3 of the natural tooth structure) and the filling had a "wedging effect" that fractured off part of the remaining natural tooth structure. In some circumstances it's a very painful situation for the patient in that the nerve of the tooth has been exposed and infected. Although the treatment is straight forward and effective (Root canal and crown) the patient has had a major inconvenience to their schedule and lifestyle. More than likely this situation could have been avoided by proactively having a crown when the tooth was showing signs of breaking down. This is one of the many things evaluated at periodic recall exams within your dental office.
If you've experienced a fractured tooth or are concerned about this occurring give us a call at (616) 284-3200 and we'd be happy to offer you a free evaluation and consult!
