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Is it ok to cover old amalgam filled teeth with crowns (even if not needed at the time)?

S

StuckInIndia

Junior member
Joined
Oct 7, 2022
Messages
7
Location
India
The front of my mouth is pristine but every quadrant the three back teeth have old amalgam fillings. They are on the larger side and ugly. I have always been self conscious of them and since I recently got crowns on perfectly healthy front teeth for pury cosmetic reasons (crowding and overlapping) got me thinking. Can I cover all 4 quadrants back 3 teeth with porcelain fused to metal crowns so they all look white again? The plus being that as I get older (Im 47 now) the crowns will protect those teeth? I read that amalgam over time can cause cracks in teeth due to temperature changes as it expands and contracts often leading to a piece of the remaining crown to crack and break off later on. So would it be a good idea for both cosmetic and preventative reasons? Anxiety aside, Im willing to do it for my self esteem and to prevent further damage to the teeth down the road as long as I get sedation.
Or is it better to wait until something happens that they need to be worked on? I know probably switching to white composite fillings wouldnt be recomended due to size and the fact they dont last as long. Hoping white crowns would posaibly last until my senior years if taken care of.
 
@StuckInIndia I'd definitely say it's better to wait if they need crowned in the future
 
Or you could replace the amalgam with composite either as inlays or directly. Rather than destroy a lot of perfectly good tooth structure to put crowns on...
 
Or you could replace the amalgam with composite either as inlays or directly. Rather than destroy a lot of perfectly good tooth structure to put crowns on...

Would composite last as long as a crown? The fillings are quite large already and the newest of them is probably more than 10 years old now. I'm more worried if I put another filling even composite would it crack and break in a few years due to fragility or need to be replaced in 5 years anyway due to age? I'm aiming at what would last longest? Because every appointment takes a trauma toll on me to process after due to the drilling pain (I don't get local which would be even more traumatic - long story) So whatever protects the longest while making everything white again.
 
Well my wife has got composite fillings I did in 1984, they're holding out fine. Like everything else, if they're done as per the makers' instructions and the material that's chosen is appropriate for the task then there is no reason to suppose it'll fail.
I've got amalgams in my mouth that are over 50 years old and still fine btw.
 
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