Post & Crown Procedure

[SallyUK]

Hi there - I have an appointment on Monday to start the process of recrowning a tooth. I was very calm about it until today and now I am nervous and don't know what to expect. I have had crowns done in the past but this tooth is concerning me. I had to have a root filling done 2 years ago, it was done through the existing crown and all was good, the root did not react or anything. Earlier this year the crown fell off - my dentist secured a temporary post to it and upon review we decided to leave it as the margins were good. Then it fell off again and I chose to try and recrown the tooth, with full awareness that the tooth was not an ideal candidate and that the root might 'flare' up - so I am nervous that the treatment will fail (already catastrophising).

I have three appointments spaced two weeks apart - can anyone explain the procedure?

I have been told the first appt is 30 mins and for the crown preparation - will he secure the 'old' crown back on and will I need numbing? The tooth is on the top, one behind the incisor.

The next appt says post and impressions taken - 30 mins - presume the old crown will go back on again.

The last appt is crown fit 20 mins

Lastly, am I right in thinking that if the root was to react it could do so fairly soon or up to a year and then things look more positive, or can't you really tell. Terrified he is somehow going to tell me on Monday that something has happened and the tooth has to be pulled - then I am looking at implants which I don't want or some sort of false tooth - horrified by these thoughts

Thank you

 

[SallyUK]

In case this helps anyone else, here is what happens when you have a post and crown done. I was very anxious beforehand and fairly anxious the whole time, but the procedure was fairly comfortable and as usual my fear was greater than reality.

I declined being numbed, although I could have been if I wanted. My current crown was removed. Then there was some drilling into the tooth root, or part of it, this was a few minutes and a bit of vibration and noise. Then a fairly stong smelling material was mixed and applied to create the post shape - I found out after this is a plastic material which is put into the space in the root where the post will sit. This part took a little while, after waiting a couple of minutes for this to dry the top part was filed - lots of water with this and moving my head to the left and right so that he could shape it. It was then removed and put in a box to be sent to the lab to have a gold post fabricated that will fit the root perfectly. After that my existing crown was put back and I was done.

I was shown the post, it was like a tiny nail with a head that I presume the crown will be made to fit - I go back and have the new post fitted and an impression made. A new crown is then made and two weeks later I get that fitted.

I had misunderstood the 'risk' in paying out to get this tooth crowned, I thought it was the stability of the root filling, but it isn't, it is the stability of the crown as the root is short and not ideal. I am hoping that it will be a success and I can keep this tooth as long as possible.

I feel relieved the first step is over and despite feeling very anxious, I did it