Who needs a dental crown?
There are multiple reasons that a dentist would recommend a crown for your tooth. When a very large filling falls out or breaks, there may not be enough of your natural tooth left to hold a new filling. When a filling is bigger than the tooth, two things could happen: the filling may quickly fall out because there is not enough tooth to bond to, or the small remaining bit of natural tooth will break from the strain of holding the large filling in.
Cracked tooth syndrome is also a situation that requires fairly immediate action, generally in the form of dental crowns. People who have cracked tooth syndrome can experience sensitivity or even excruciating pain whenever they eat cold foods or bite down on something too hard.
Once a patient gets a cracked tooth, they need to seek dental assistance. A crack in a tooth is like a crack in a windshield- once it has started, it will slowly continue to grow. Aggressive biting, clenching and grinding can make the crack grow faster. Once the crack reaches the nerve of the tooth, the patient will need a root canal, or worst case scenario, the tooth will have to be extracted.
If a patient is seeing their dentist regularly, the dentist can inform them of minor dental cracks that need attention. It’s highly recommended to get them taken care of early. If patients wait, they could end up in a lot of pain.
The other reason you may need a crown is if your tooth needs a root canal. Root canals can weaken the tooth, making it very brittle.
