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Impending root canal / tooth pulling

C

CodeWarrior

Junior member
Joined
Jun 20, 2006
Messages
7
So you may remember, although most likely not, that in 2006 I had some fillings done and frankly regretted it. I found the composite fillings really rough and hard to bear and the guy who treated me put in a glass ionomer filling that was really rough with out explaining this was different from composite fillings. So I got a new dentist who polished the fillings as much as he could ... but frankly I was never happy with the texture even to this day. In fact it feels like its gradually grown rough again. ... So I've recently been told I need a tooth either pulled or root canaled. Either way they'd want to replace it with ceramic either a cap or a ceramic implant. ... that's the thing. How smooth can ceramic be? My dentist told me if you get cast ceramic it can get quite smooth but remember I am still annoyed by these composite fillings. Can these ceramics emulate the glassy smooth surface of natural tooth or are they grainy as I'm told porcelain veneers are? What about gold, is a cast ceramic smoother or rougher than a good gold crown?

Has any one here had a ceramic crown, was it a cast one? Have you has composite fillings too? How do they compare? Any one tried gold? I'm more interested in the comparison between materials (and tooth) than how happy you personally are with them? After all I apparently have some sort of hyper sensitive tongue.

If I can't find a good material I'm seriously considering just having it pulled and a gap left.

regards

code
 
I can only help with how gold feels. I have a gold crown on a back bottom tooth, it feels very smooth. Smoother than your own teeth.
 
My porcelain front teeth crowns feel as smooth as glass, they are always shiny to feel even at the end of the day when the rest of your teeth really feel like they need a brush. Mine are not metal bonded, and this current set has lasted unchipped for about 14/15 years. Saying that I am having one replaced next week, but not because the crown broke, but because I snapped the underneath tooth off !

I also have two white composite fillings, and although mine are smooth they aren't as smooth as the crowns.
 
That's encouraging ... how would you say they compare to your natural teeth at the beginning of the day? Rougher / smoother? Could you tell the difference?
 
My ceramic (all ceramic mouth) is very smooth, almost too smooth. I only feel plaque at the gumline and it's noticably different so I brush a lot.

rp
 
Hi Codewarrior
Guess what I remember you. I even remember which dentist you went to who suggested gold could be 'as smooth as you like'.
I now have a gold crown and it feels lovely...I like the feel of it much more than the feel of my own tooth filled or unfilled. Composites can definitely feel worse than amalgams to the tongue especially if not donbe perfectly so I say with your 'sensory issues' 'going for gold' could well be the solution.
Not to mention that you need to remove less tooth structure to do a gold crown than any other type, plus they have a proven longevity.
NHS gold crown is not what I am talking about, you need a high gold content in the alloy of say 60-70% to get the really smooth feeling as far as I am aware.
 
That's encouraging ... how would you say they compare to your natural teeth at the beginning of the day? Rougher / smoother? Could you tell the difference?
Smoother, much much smoother and shiner (and this is not because I have problems on the other front teeth near them, they are in perfect condition !) Plaque never adheres to them, they feel like a damp slippery porcelain plate. lol Saying that, I don't know how strong they would be for a rear tooth ?
 
I am quite sure Brit is quite correct in what she is saying about a priv gold crown but, I have a gold crown as I said, and it was done on the NHS, I don't know that a privately done one would have served me better.
It has always been perfect I often run my tongue over it because I prefer the feel of it to my own teeth. It is shaped like any normal back tooth on the top, it isn't flat, so I can chew anything that my normal teeth would.
I had my tooth crowned when I was about 20 yrs old. That one came a bit lose, I didn't know it was, the dentist I had at the time said it was. I was about 33 yrs old and he replaced it for the one I have now.
I am now 54 yrs old and it's still there and fine. I just thought if you can't afford a private one don't worry if you look after your mouth an NHS crown will more than do the job.
I also have a porcelain bridge and I prefer the feel of the gold crown to this. I am quite happy with my bridge but if we are comparing how things feel. Gold every time.
You decide.
 
Yes this is quite encouraging. back then I really couldn't afford gold work but the ceramic crown is supposed to cost in the region of 700£ anyway, I doubt gold could cost much more. Ive sent an email to the dentist asking if gold will do as well as ceramic.
 
I am quite sure Brit is quite correct in what she is saying about a priv gold crown but, I have a gold crown as I said, and it was done on the NHS, I don't know that a privately done one would have served me better.
It has always been perfect I often run my tongue over it because I prefer the feel of it to my own teeth. It is shaped like any normal back tooth on the top, it isn't flat, so I can chew anything that my normal teeth would.
I had my tooth crowned when I was about 20 yrs old. That one came a bit lose, I didn't know it was, the dentist I had at the time said it was. I was about 33 yrs old and he replaced it for the one I have now.
I am now 54 yrs old and it's still there and fine. I just thought if you can't afford a private one don't worry if you look after your mouth an NHS crown will more than do the job.
I also have a porcelain bridge and I prefer the feel of the gold crown to this. I am quite happy with my bridge but if we are comparing how things feel. Gold every time.
You decide.

I am the same as you re my tongue always seeking out the gold, it just feels so nice and nothing sticks to it;).

From NHS Choices website, there's a lot of difference between 60-70% gold and 33 %:
'Band 3 course of treatment: £204.00


laboratory fabricated porcelain or composite veneers, including acid etch retention
inlays, pinlays, onlays and palatal veneers, in alloys containing 60% or more fine gold, porcelain, composite resin and ceramics
crowns including any pin or post aids to retention:
- full or three-quarter crown cast in alloys containing not less than 33⅓% fine gold or platinum or palladium
- full or jacket crown cast in alloys containing stainless steel or cobalt chromium or nickel chromium
- crown in porcelain, synthetic resin and other non-metallic crowns
- full or jacket crowns in alloys containing not less than 33⅓% fine gold or platinum or palladium, or alloys containing stainless steel or cobalt chromium or nickel chromium, with thermally bonded porcelain
- jacket crown thermally bonded to wrought platinum coping
- prefabricated full or jacket crown, including any pin or post retention'END QUOTE

As Gordon said once before your NHS dentist is free to use whatever material standards he wishes so long as he doesn't go below the NHS minimums. Maybe you got a really good one. Great to hear it lasted so well.
 
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Yes this is quite encouraging. back then I really couldn't afford gold work but the ceramic crown is supposed to cost in the region of 700£ anyway, I doubt gold could cost much more. Ive sent an email to the dentist asking if gold will do as well as ceramic.

Not all dentists offer gold. It is a bit of a 'dentist's dentist' thing. Very traditional.
 
Brit I feel I was extremely lucky both in the dentist I had at the time and the lab he used to do his crowns, bridges false teeth etc... I don't think they expected crowns and such to last as long as mine have done back then.
The dentist I had then had a real interest and pride in his work and patients, and probably had the means financially to be that way. He was the owner, one man band.
I had 2 false teeth at the back on a plate that was damaging my gums so he talked me into having the bridge done. I was and still am a nervous and at times completely phobic patient, so I also think I was a bit of a challenge for him, because he used to say if he could get me to have things done, then he could get anybody to trust him. He was such a good guy.
I know you get what you pay for, and I know private is better every time if you can afford it material wise. I am just grateful for the crown and bridge being done so well they have lasted me until now, and I hope they continue to do so.
While at the moment as an NHS patient, apart from the materials used and having more options in regards to implants etc... only offered privately, thankfully the treatment I receive from the dentist I am with now is 100%.
I wish I could afford to go private with him, he does both, because he deserves to be paid more than he gets from NHS rates.
 
It doesn't help of course that gold prices are very high at the moment. The danger here is that privately as well, patients get given gold alloys with lower gold content. That's why you should always ask/request and not assume you will always be given the best privately.
 
Well its been a week now and my dentist still hasn't responded to my email asking about the use of gold. I'm guessing this means he doesn't use gold in his practice and doesn't really want to break that to me. Never the less if that does turn out to be the case can anyone recommend a dentist who is good at working with gold in the west Yorkshire region?
 
I don't know where in West Yorkshire you are wanting I see one in Leeds and they do Gold I think, I am NHS but the dentist I see is very good and does private as well. Is Leeds area any good to you. If you PM me I can tell you the name or if you look on here at the find a dentist section they are on there.
 
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