• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Need new porcelain crown — scared to death

N

NellR

Junior member
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
9
Location
USA
I have a severe anxiety disorder. Going to the dentist is extremely difficult even for a regular exam. Recently I have managed to get through a full mouth root scaling and planing (one quadrant per visit) and 5 fillings (three visitS) but now I’m supposed to have a porcelain crown removed due to decay along the gumline and I’m scared to death to go back for this. The dentist said it could take up to 20 minutes just to drill the old crown off ... then there’s the drilling of the decay, making a new (Cerec) crown etc. Has anyone been through this or performed this who can offer some calming advice?? Please help!!
 
Not had it done but done it to others lots... it won't be any worse than your fillings and probably easier than a quadrant of root planing. Most of the decay will be taken care of during removing the old crown (20 minutes sounds like a lot longer than most take to get off, maybe your dentist is giving you a worst case to prepare you a bit).
 
Thank you so much for your response! How long does it usually take you to remove a porcelain crown? Will I feel pieces of it coming off in my mouth (scary!)? Does the drilling of the crown feel like replacing a filling? The dentist said I wont need fillings(?) — I guess thats what the crown is for? Do Cerec crowns need some kind of impressions? Thank you so much for your help — I’m reading everything you say several times — I’m very scared :/
 
Sorry, been away on grandad duties :)
It depends a lot on how it was glued on originally, usually 2 or 3 minutes of work. The newer cements make it a bit more of a faff to get off, might take as long as 10 minutes. The drilling is exactly the same as for a filling, but mentally it's easier because it's not you that's getting drilled, if you see what I mean.
Cerec normally is done with a 3D scanner gadget, it's very cool :)
 
Just got back from getting new Cerec crown. Drilling off old crown took maybe 5-10 minutes. Sitting here all numb but glad that I managed to get through the whole crown replacement today. Thank you again!
 
Yay, well done you and thanks for following up :)
 
Back
Top