Crowns

I can't believe I'm 50 years old old still afraid of the dentist! But, with answered prayers and the support of family, friends, and this site, I'm proud to say I'm finishing up my treatment plan at last! I've had fillings and extractions and probings, now all that's left are three crowns. I go Wednesday to start. I've found an outstanding, understanding dentist and he's recommended I do all 3 ( two on one side, and one on the other) at the same time. I've grown much more comfortable with my appointments, but I'm apprehensive about these crowns. Would surely appreciate any support you can provide. I've never had crowns before and not knowing what to expect, I am, of course, imaging the worst. Is it really bad??

53yrs. here...so I'm a bit ahead of you.
Last year I took all of those scary steps, just like you. Support of my loved ones and a good dentist multiplied my determination. I also had SOOOO many precedures, including crowns. I had 2 during one appointment and two during another. Both times, I had temps put in with the final crowns done a few days later. The temps were much more involved procedures, with impressions and such. Only 1 didn't survive the time delay...due to a very tasty but too chewy piece of french bread! But no big deal. The finals were so easy...and visibly worth it.
After weeks of extractions, fillings, root canals, deep cleans, etc., the crowns were a piece of cake.
Congrats on what you've accomplished. Hope you stay with a plan to keep that beautiful new smile healthy. I see my dentist every 6 months, use my sonic toothbrush and waterpic, and get AWESOME reports from my hygientist. From total, manic dental phobic for 20+ years to dentally happy and healthy in just 1 year. And I give HUGE thanks to this wonderful forum.
I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

mambear said:

I can't believe I'm 50 years old old still afraid of the dentist! But, with answered prayers and the support of family, friends, and this site, I'm proud to say I'm finishing up my treatment plan at last! I've had fillings and extractions and probings, now all that's left are three crowns. I go Wednesday to start. I've found an outstanding, understanding dentist and he's recommended I do all 3 ( two on one side, and one on the other) at the same time. I've grown much more comfortable with my appointments, but I'm apprehensive about these crowns. Would surely appreciate any support you can provide. I've never had crowns before and not knowing what to expect, I am, of course, imaging the worst. Is it really bad??

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I've only had crowns done on teeth which have already had a root canal done on them. It's not my favourite procedure since a lot of the tooth is shaved away externally and that makes me sad for some reason .
You will be numbed so there should be no pain while you are there. Impressions are done. The temps feel a bit icky but you usually only wear them for a couple of weeks while the permanents are made by the lab.
For the seating of the crown, you shouldn't need local if the tooth has already had an rct but you might want it, if the nerve is still live.

The only thing I would counsel is, have you been convinced that they are really necessary? They can be oversold sometimes (a bit like wisdom tooth extraction) - wanting to do 3 in one appt also sets off alarms to me - why wouldn't you just do one and see how you go with it?

The downsides are that having a crown done on a tooth which currently has no symptoms can result in symptoms (insult to the nerve) and the need for a root canal treatment to sort the situation out. Depending on your finances/trust level with dentist, you may not want to run this risk on 3 teeth all at once.
On the other hand you may feel that the risk of breakage (due to an existing old large filling - we patients often think our old amalgams are bigger than they actually are btw) outweighs this risk.
I am betting that these crowns are not essential and that you could 'wait and see' unless you have been convinced otherwise.

What reasons have you been given to justify doing them? Is there decay to remove etc etc , are the old restorations leaky (if so could re-do just filling)....don't do it blind is my advice - dentists make a lot of money from doing them and this makes it tempting to move the inevitable cycle of repair along faster than is necessary sometimes.

The inevitable cycle of dental repair goes filling, re-do filling, (root canal then crown) or worse crown then root canal through the crown, extraction, implant/partial denture.

At 50 you are doing well to only just be embarking on crowns - that was my situation too but I felt they were necessary as the molars had had root canals. Even so my dentist insisted I wait several months to ensure trouble free before crowning (what they would do for themselves).

I know I have filled molars in my mouth that many a dentist would suggest I crown whereas my dentist does what he would do for himself which is to leave well alone. If a cusp breaks, you can always crown at that stage.

Sorry for being the doom and gloom monger but I really am not a fan of crowns as a patient.
Also research the different types of crowns - what is being suggested and on which teeth? In non-visible areas gold is the most conservative choice.

generally for an apprehensive patient who will treated awake I will start with the easiest and fastest one side only after that goes well then start the other. Better to build on success than risk it all. It is very easy to need three crowns but the dentist wanting to do all three on different sides on an apprehensive patient sets off an alert to me.