Question about tooth?!


Question:

Question about tooth?

Is it possible to do a root canal and crown on a tooth that is pretty much gone? The tooth broke a while ago and since then has broken little by little. And now is really bad. You can barely see any tooth at all. Is it possible to do a root canal on a tooth like this and put a crown on?


Answers:

A tooth has both a crown and a root. The visible part (the crown) can be mostly gone and the tooth can be still salvagable. As a dentist I can tell you that the determining factor on whether a tooth is hopeless or can be saved with a root canal is crown to root ratio. After removal of decay and the root canal and placement of crown...if more tooth is in bone rather than out of it...the tooth can salvaged. If more tooth is outside of the bone (ie the decay is so deep that it goes well below the gumline) then the tooth is heading toward hopeless. I know this sounds complicated, but a dentist would make this call off the radiograph (x-ray). Often the visible part of the tooth actually makes up 50% or less of the entire tooth...so you may be missing quite a bit of the tooth and yet it can still be salvaged.
The better question is...Do you want to save it?...Root canals and crowns are very expensive and the tooth got to where it is most likely due to decay..which means it could likely decay again (they can still decay after a root canal and crown).
Good Luck




The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories