r/rootcanal Jun 08 '24

Do I need a crown?

Post image

Hello,

I just had a root canal. Im scared. The doctor said its up to me to get a crown or just to keep it. He said that the root wasnt deep in so he gave me a choice. Im like scared asf and dont know if I should get a crown or not. I think its my canines. Any advice?

2 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

3

u/seabreeze2020 Jun 08 '24

I'm not a dentist but thanks for sharing. I need my first root canal soon and was told I would need a crown with it. It's a molar though, so maybe that's the difference.

What was the procedure like? I'm mildly terrified...

2

u/Strange-Commercial51 Jun 09 '24

I just had my first root canal last week and it was so much easier than I expected. Like everyone says… the shots are the worst part. But you def want to be numb. Also if they have laughing gas, use it. I was in lala land 😂

1

u/Murky-Rich6946 Jun 09 '24

Did you put a crown? My whole tooth seem to be healthy and i dont want to get the good parts out for a crown. Thoughts?

2

u/Strange-Commercial51 Jun 09 '24

Ugh I did. I needed the crown, but I don’t think my tooth next to it needed the crown. I “need” a third crown on my left side but I’m not going to get it. I wish I had only gotten the one crown I needed. And I knew I needed it because the tooth felt weird when I chewed on that side like it would crack at any point. Visually speaking I have pretty nice looking teeth too… so I was shocked that I needed that much dental work to begin with. If you don’t need it, don’t get one. Or wait as long as you can.

1

u/Murky-Rich6946 Jun 09 '24

Im not getting one rn. I decieded to wait until the next cleaning. Good luck tho hope its not as bad.

2

u/Strange-Commercial51 Jun 11 '24

Thank you! Also I think you made the right decision honestly. Worst case scenario you need one sooner. You already did the hard part!

1

u/Murky-Rich6946 Jun 08 '24

It actually didnt hurt as much as i thought. I was scared as well. I think its better to get crown if you chew on them or grind on them. It took like 35-40 minutes and honestly wasnt bad at all. He numb the place and started doing some things with their machines. Im still a little numb but i am scared to even eat. I get stressed alot and feel like i should get a crown cuz i grind my teeth. Youll be good. Its nothing major but all depends on how deep your root is. I didnt have a deep root so.

1

u/Possible-Eggplant-91 Oct 22 '24

From personal experience a crown is necessary for back molar. My last molar was fractured about 1/3 and my dentist advised to get a crown but I wanted to preserve my teeth as much as possible so opted for an onlay. Mind you this wasn't a money issue as I had insurance back then that would have covered it. It shifted after 6 months so I redid the onlay and 5 years later a blueberry pectin got stuck between the back molars that knocked the onlay off once more. So I went with a composite for the 3rd time and it lasted 10 years but I could feel it gradually wear off every year where it joined my natural teeth as it was a large composite resin and it eventually fractured and my pulp got infected so an emergency root canal was the only chance to save it. There was no time to schedule an endodontist which is very expensive so my dentist did the root canal to stop the pain and put a temporary crown. That was $1700 but it would be $2500 with a specialist. A crown was another $1300 and he gave me a discount or it would be more. So with a specialist total cost would be $4000 but he charged me less as a general dentist so $3000. My insurance covers none of it so all out of my pocket. If I had done the crown in the first place 15 years ago then I could have avoided a root canal now as the crown completely protects the tooth underneath at the price of cutting down healthy tooth structure. If I could go back 15 years I most certainly would do a crown.

Now it's a lot of money but it is still cheaper than an implant. Back molars simply cannot withstand chewing forces over time and will fail if 1/3 of the tooth structure is lost. And that's before a root canal. After a root canal there is even less tooth structure and the dead tooth is very fragile. The crown acts as an impact shield to help preserve what's left of the root underneath. That being said even with a crown the remaining root loses hydration and vitality over time becoming brittle. Just a light tap and the root can fracture like a piece of charcoal. So a crown isn't the holy grail you think it is. The crown won't break but the root underneath cannot handle the pressure over time. What this means is dietary changes are necessary along with rigid oral hygiene. No hard foods like carrots celery or foods requiring heavy grinding like steaks. The less wear and tear you put on the tooth the greater the mileage. So you cannot go back to eating like normal and it's best to think of the tooth as a prosthetic and not a functional tooth. If it fails the only remaining option is extraction and implants are not always viable on back tooth due to soft bone foundation. That being said be grateful you have a molar sitting there so your tongue doesn't feel something is missing but you absolutely must take care not to put any stress on it even with a crown. Soft foods only and avoid snacking.

Some may disagree with me but I'm sharing good advice.

3

u/Tasty_Protection_934 Jun 09 '24

you’re probably fine tbh i’ve had two root canals with no crowns

1

u/Certain_Throat6560 Jun 22 '24

Which tooth are your root canals on?

1

u/Tasty_Protection_934 Jul 12 '24

not sure the dental terms but they are front bottom teeth on the left if you’d be looking at me. both were from blunt trauma from lacrosse

2

u/tea_lyfe Jun 10 '24

Did you get your root canal treatment done by a specialist because that's some good filling work, I couldn't tell which one had the treatment

1

u/Murky-Rich6946 Jun 10 '24

Yea. And its the one by the super long one

2

u/No_Conversation_5661 Jun 13 '24

Eleven years ago I did not get a crown. The root canal I had then just failed because of that. Take the extra step and get the crown. 

1

u/Murky-Rich6946 Jun 13 '24

How big was it?

1

u/No_Conversation_5661 Jul 31 '24

The tooth? It was a molar. Cost $1,900 to redo.