Will my front teeth crack while removing the old crown and will I need root canal after the replacement?

Replacing a crown is a very routine procedure that your dentist should have no problem doing.  It is a rule of mine that I always inspect the tooth for match and fix, prior to trying it on the patient.  Then once I try it on the patient, I make sure that I show the patient the tooth to make sure that they like the color and the fix.  Once my patient has agreed to the color and the fit, I cement the tooth.  I do this because it is much much easier to have the crown redone, than to cement it, then later have the patient come back in to have the crown removed and redone.  In my 10 years of providing cosmetic dentistry, I have have developed a sixth sense for matching color, shade and fit, so it is very rare that I need to request that a crown be redone.  Good luck and I hope this helps. Follow me if you have more questions.Sarah Thompson, DMD

If your dentist uses a very gentle technique to remove the old crown, then cracking of your underlying tooth is unlikely.  The two techniques I like are either to drill the crown (not the tooth) in half or in thirds, and then GENTLY separate from crown from the underlying tooth VERY GENTLY with a crown separating instrument.  The other technique is to use a wafer called the Richwil crown and bridge remover.  The dentist would warm it up, you would bite into the wafer, then he would cool it down making it hard with cool water.  Then he would instruct you to open quickly, and oftentimes that will pull the crown off of the underlying tooth.  Other techniques requiring tapping the tooth with an instrument have potentially more downside risk of fracturing the tooth.If the crown is removed atraumatically, you have little risk of needing to have a room canal.  If your dentist uses a more aggressive technique, then the opposite is true....more risk of breaking or cracking the underlying tooth and need for root canal or possibly extraction.  However, my advice is to talk with your dentist, explain your concerns, and definitely make sure he assures you that he will remove the crown in a very safe and comfortable way, being very diligent and cautious.  You will probably be just fine!