Dental practice question: I was getting my tooth cleaned the other day?!

Dental practice question: I was getting my tooth cleaned the other day?

and my porcelain crown was broken by the metal vibrating tool the dental hygenist using.

Hygenist told me probably it was an old porcelain crown..She said typically crowns dont break like that...I dont belive that crown was older than 3-4 years...

I have a dilemna here, if i did not get my tooth cleaned i was not going to get my crown broken.

Getting a new crown is going to cost me some money $1000+ , $1500 or so...

On the other hand dentist or hygenist cant be responsible for every teeth they are cleaning.

What is the common practice dentists follow for these types of situations.. can i expect them to fix my crown free of charge??
Should i share 50% 50%. I really did not need this expense right now...

Thanks for all the answers....

3 weeks ago
Heather: How do you know the crown was already cracked? Were you there? Are you God?

If you talk to your dentist, I'm sure you guys can come up with an amicable settlement. If the crown was cracked prior to the scaling, the hygienist should have said something about it and been more careful in the area. If the dentist you are currently seeing did place the crown, that would give strentgh to your argument that you should not have to pay for re-treatment.

No, crowns do not last forever; but with proper treatment, they can last up to 20 years. I have had patients who have had their crowns for even longer than that.

As previously stated, talk to your dentist....Most cases are treated on an individual basis and the doctor will want you to continue to be a satisfied patient. You can request that the dentist that did place the crown in question forward your file to your current dental office to show exactly how "old" it is, too.