Chances are the reason you need a crown is because the previous filling went bad, decay grew beneath it or it cracked. If you use a crown you will protect the tooth. However, the years of bacteria being inside your tooth will be hard to ignore. I recommend my patients they get a root canal to protect the crown they are getting and avoiding having to pay for a second one. It has been my experience that a large percent of the teeth that get crowned end up needing a root canal with in 5 years of placing the NEW crown. When you need that root canal the dentist will have to make a whole through the crown. Sometimes, the crown survives, but many times it breaks. NOW, the patient has to pay for 100% of the new crown. Dental insurance will replace crowns after 5-10 years, depending on the company. SO, I treatment plan all crowns that have a broken or failed filling to get root canals to avoid paying for two crowns. Hope this helps, David SIlber, DMD Dallas, TX
You can eat with molars. You can eat without teeth! If you look at the molars from the goodyear blimp view, you will see a large space. like a table. There teeth were meant for chewing. If you look at the roots, the have two or three large root, to survive the forces while you eat. Look at the pre-molars, the ones in front of the molar from the same view. They are smaller but still have space to chew. The roots are smaller, but may may two. They were also designed to chew. However, since they are smaller it is harder to chew whit them alone and the possibilities of the roots weakening is larger. The front teeth are not for chewing, as you look at them they have no space and the roots were not designed for those forces. Hopefully, you already know the answer. You can eat with out molars. It will only get tougher and tougher as time goes by. The teeth may start to move and you may start to loose more teeth. I like to have one set of healthy molars per side as a minimum. Hope this helps, David Silber, DMD Dallas, TX
For every patient their is a different solution. It is very hard to give you a treatment plan based on a picture. The dentist, preferably an orthodontist, will use all the tools available to give you a treatment plan to deliver the results that you both agree. If you can't agree on the results walk away. Many dentist are aggressive and many are conservative. You need to evaluate what your are willing to do and find someone who can deliver what you want with the level of aggressiveness you are willing to live with. Hope this helps, David Silber, DMD
Things happen in life, things happen in dentistry. If you need open heart surgery you go to a specialist, the best best in town. Somehow dentist have turned into one stop shops. They like to keep the work in house. I personally believe in using the best procedures and doctors for the well being of MY patients. Notice, MY patients, I believe, MY patients are the reason I work. I have to deliver the best possible care to MY patients. SO, if I have to refer MY patient to a specialist or another dentist for them to get the best possible care, I will. To answer your question, these thing take time to work and you will have to come in for periodic adjustment. It works and it is a great REMOVABLE option. It is cheaper than the fixed option. Good Luck, David SIlber, DMD Dallas, TX
Its very hard to made a thin, esthetic temporary for the front teeth that won't break. The material used, is acrylic. It is not the strongest. The are bulky to make sure they don't break. Think about the final result and you will be ok. That is why I changed my technique and do only Lumineers.
