Re: [OT] Question about dental crowns



jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi all,

I could use some dental advice. One of my molars has become very
sensitive to cold over the past several months. Heat also bothers it
somewhat, so I've been chewing mostly on the other side for most of
that time. It's gotten bad enough that I have to use warm water to
rinse my mouth out after brushing my teeth.

Anyway, I recently got dental insurance, and I went in last week to
get a checkup and cleaning. The dentist looked at that tooth and told
me I had a crack along outside edge, and that's what's causing the
sensitivity - from liquids seeping inside the tooth. She said that
there's very little tooth left, just the filling and a fragile bit of
tooth around the edges, and if she were just to replace the filling,
there would be nothing to hold it in place. So she says I need a
crown.

Since I've never had this done before, I wanted to ask if this sounds
reasonable. If I really need it, of course I'll have it done, but
crowns are very expensive, and my insurance will pay only 50% of it.
So I don't want to get it unless it's really necessary.

Sounds VERY reasonable to me - most of my teeth - especially the molars - have for a long time been mostly filling surrounded by a shell of tooth. As I've grown older, a number of the teeth have cracked, leaving filling exposed on one side. So far I've been lucky, and there was still enough tooth left to provide a base for a crown, but once a tooth breaks off, that is not always the case. The last crown I had was precautionary - the filling was washing out (after forty-odd years) and it seemed wise to have a crown done while there was still enough of the original tooth remaining to make it possible (not wait until it cracked and one side broke off).


I'd be interested in hearing some other experiences with this. Has
anyone else had the same symptom and ended up getting a crown? Should
I get a second opinion? Is it common for dentists to do unneccessary
work? I've always had really good teeth, so I mostly haven't had any
dental treatment beyond the usual cleanings and x-rays.

If you don't trust the dentist, by all means get a second opinion, but the diagnosis sounds reasonable. The only "unnecessary" work I've heard of dentists promoting are the ones who insist upon replacing all one's old-fashioned alloy "silver" fillings with more modern materials. (Their excuse is that the old ones contain mercury, but I figure if I've lived with them for so many years, the "danger" is minimal, so I'll wait until they need crowns.)

.

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