Crowns & Bridges

Breaking teeth can be painful, costly and frustrating.  When a patient comes to our office with multiple broken teeth, we examine several areas: tendency to clench and grind their teeth, size of previous fillings and how stable their bite is.  People that clench and grind their teeth can generate enormous amounts of force which can chip or crack teeth.  For those that clench or grind, we would recommend a splint to be worn at night or even during the day to reduce the amount of force put on your teeth.  Unfortunately, cavities and fillings weaken teeth.  When a dentist has to fix a cavity, the resulting tooth is more prone to breaking than if it had never had a cavity or filling.  Lastly, a stable and protected bite evens the chewing forces out among teeth.  If a tooth is taking more force than designed to, it is more likely to break.  Crossbites, missing teeth, excessive overbites and underbites increase your chances of broken teeth.  We believe that prevention is the best medicine and hoped you learned something from this FAQ!

Bridges and dental implants both have advantages and disadvantages.  Bridges are anchored with two or more teeth while implants are put in where the teeth are missing.  One great advantage of bridges is that they can often be completed in about a month.  Implants however, require 4 or more months for the missing teeth to be in place and functioning.

Bridges are preferred when a tooth has been missing for many years and the placement of an implant would require extensive bone grafting.  Some patients are not good candidates for implant surgery due to their health history and for them, a bridge would be beneficial.  Since bridges use the adjacent teeth as anchors, if the adjacent teeth are broken and require large restorations, a bridge can solve the problem of the missing tooth and the broken teeth at once!

Implants are great in many situations.  If the teeth next to the missing tooth have had small fillings, an implant is the recommended treatment.  When the adjacent teeth have had root canals or posts, an implant is likely the best option since applying force to these teeth may cause a crack.  

Overall, in most situations, a dental implant is the best treatment option.  If you are considering a bridge or dental implant and would like a professional opinion, contact Lone Oak Dental today!

When the nerve in a tooth dies, there are two treatment options, (1) a root canal to save the tooth or (2) remove the tooth.  Root canal treatment allows us to save teeth!

Most teeth that have had root canals have had a deep cavity, large filling or a crack.  Big fillings and cracks in teeth weaken the tooth and increase the chance of the tooth breaking.  Dental crowns hold a weakened tooth together preventing both the filling and tooth from breaking.

A research article from 2016 in the American Association of Endodontists found that teeth that did not get a crown within 4 months after the root canal was done were 3 times more likely to be extracted than those that got a crown within 4 months.  

We believe that if you are going to invest the time, effort and money into root canal treatment, you also need to plan on getting a crown shortly after the root canal is done.  

As you can imagine, teeth take a lot of force.  That is due to our jaw muscles being some of the strongest muscles in the body.  As we age, it is not uncommon to develop small cracks in the grooves of our back teeth from a normal diet.  Sometimes these cracks get deeper and the strength of the tooth diminishes.  When this happens, a portion of a tooth may break off or the tooth becomes sore to bite on.  

Cracked teeth should be examined early and treated quickly before more damage occurs.  Left untreated, the crack can enter the nerve space of the tooth and cause terrible pain.  Occasionally, the crack goes below the gum line and breaks the root which requires that the entire tooth be removed.  

Preventing cracked teeth can be done by avoiding foods that require a lot of force such as almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds and ice chewing.  People that grind their teeth at night or during the day should wear a bite guard to prevent breaking and weakening teeth.  

As previously mentioned, cracked teeth should be brought to the attention of the dentist ASAP.  If you have a tooth that is tender to bite on occasionally, let Dr. Jordan know soon!