Crowns for Teeth

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience getting a crown? I am 38, and it seems like my old silver fillings are giving out. I just came back from the dentist, and she is putting me on a “crown a year plan” to hopefully replace all my large fillings before the teeth crack and I need root canals or extractions or implants. I googled the procedure, and the thiought of having my molar drilled down to a nub is a bit disconcerting. And going down the fake tooth route makes me feel a bit old. Anyone have experience with “coronations”? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Thai is so funny. Crowns are totally normal. Good plan by your dentist. You never feel the weird nub bc they cover it with a temporary while your real crown is made. Does not hurt to have the thing drilled down either. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I'm about 10 years older than you and have had to get quite a few crowns and one implant. The amount of money we've had to spend on dental care for my teeth is so frustrating. None of it is cheap! But I'd always rather stay ahead of the problem. If you're not sure you can always get a second opinion but don't put it off too long or you will start to lose your options.

[Anonymous]

That seems a bit aggressive, especially if you have no decay or cracks in your fillings.

[Anonymous]

if you have enough healthy tooth available, look into an on-lay rather than the crown. My dentist is big on preserving as much of the tooth as possible. If the onlay is not a viable option, then we go to a crown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That seems a bit aggressive, especially if you have no decay or cracks in your fillings.

oh, right - if the tooth is totally healthy, your silver should be replace with current fillings. So in this order: replace silver fillings; onlay; crown.

[Anonymous]

Implants are not easy. You will be without a tooth for 4-7 months and the flippers are not fun and you can't wear while eating. I've had lots of complications despite going to the best oral surgeon I could find.

I recommend a specialist for a root canal if you need it and go back to dentist for crown. Root canals are easy and painless.

I got my implant because of a dentist who messed up my root canal. Paying more for a specialist to do it is worth it. Trust me. I would have paid another $300 or so at the time. In the end, I just tallied up my total for this tooth and with the root canal, crown, 4 surgeries, extraction and now the implant - I think I've spent about $13,000 on one darn tooth. That's before the crown.

[Anonymous]

Second opinion!!!

[Anonymous]

This seems like a pretty aggressive plan. I am 52 with a mouth full of silver fillings. My dentist keeps an eye on them but only does work when it’s warranted. Over the last decade I have had 2 replaced and both with new fillings rather than crowns. I expect that more work will be needed in coming years but to assume every filling will need a crown sounds like a money grab. They’re expensive! Get a few opinions.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the size of the filling and whether decay had entered areas where the filling is chipped. I am in my 40s, and my town had no flouride when I was grown up. I had at least one cavity in almost every tooth in my head. Some have been refilled once or twice. Others had to be drilled down to stubs and crowned. I know have five crowns, three of which are gold. I recommend gold for far back teeth. They are more durable and require drilling away less tooth. You want to avoid implants. I am about to have a tooth extracted and will get a bridge, largely because one of the teeth on the other side is a crown already and the other would soon be anyway. There are a lot of worse things than bad teeth, but I have spent almost 20k on mine and feel like a bionic woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a pretty aggressive plan. I am 52 with a mouth full of silver fillings. My dentist keeps an eye on them but only does work when it’s warranted. Over the last decade I have had 2 replaced and both with new fillings rather than crowns. I expect that more work will be needed in coming years but to assume every filling will need a crown sounds like a money grab. They’re expensive! Get a few opinions.

Get a new dentist. You may not need this at all.

[Anonymous]

Proactively getting crowns is ridiculous. You get them if/when you need them, not just because. Also, crown is not the first option, as other PPs have stated. Agree to get a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Proactively getting crowns is ridiculous. You get them if/when you need them, not just because. Also, crown is not the first option, as other PPs have stated. Agree to get a second opinion.

+1

[Anonymous]

I had one put in at 33. It sucked. Wish they’d just put me out for it like they did when I had wisdom teeth removed. But you have to what you have to do.

[Anonymous]

I would get a second opinion. The crown replacement is a prothsthesis that replaces the natural crown. You only need these when the natural crown is going to or has failed.

I have a single crown my dad put in for me 20 years ago.