Is a Post and Build Up Required for Dental Crowns on Front Teeth?

A post and buildup are not always necessary  when placing crowns on front teeth.  A post is utilized when a tooth has been badly decayed or broken due to trauma.  When utilized, a post is inserted about 3/4 of the way down the root of the tooth and cemented in place.  A buildup is then placed around the post  and the crown is seated on the buildup.  Many posts have been found to cause fractures in roots after they have been in place for many years.  For this reason, I opt for extracting the tooth and placing a dental implant when the tooth is in need of a post.  I have found that I get more longevity out of an implant with less problems in the future.  Good luck.  

A post and buildup should only be necessary if there is not enough sound tooth structure for a crown to br placed on.  If they are necessary in your case, make sure that tooth colored posts and buildup material is used to prevent any dark areas showing through the crown.  This is only true if an all porcelain crown is used (which should be the case for front teeth) if a porcelain fused to metal crown is used then this does not matter

First you need to have a RCT in the tooth to have a post placed and a core build up. If your tooth is not Root Canal, then you may just need a core build up. Not all the time you need one or the other, if is not necessary. When a front tooth is Root Canal, depending of what the doctor has to work with and the condition of the tooth, a post and core build up will be needed for more support.

every case is different. Just depends on the amount of supporting tooth structure. There is no rule of thumb.

Only if there is inadequate tooth structure remaining.  Avoid metal posts if at all possible as they can discolor the underlying tooth and cause a gray line to appear or show through crown if an all porcelain restoration is used.  Bonded tooth colored posts are much better cosmetically is a post is required.