Boise Dentist Blog
The professional blog of Doctors Dan Bruce, Steve Bruce, Rosa Pothier and Rob Ririe
Why do I need a crown?
Often, when I tell people I am a dentist, I get a number of tooth-related questions. Today I was talking to someone at the store and they asked how long a filling is supposed to last. Even in the absence of decay or tooth fracture, a filling usually will not last your whole lifetime. This is due to many factors, such as a persons diet, the amount of force they put on the tooth, and the age of the fillings. Leakage around an old filling can occur with time, even when the filling is well taken care of. After a filling fails, it may be able to be refilled again or a crown may be indicated. A crown covers the entire tooth and holds it together. Crowns are done when their is not enough tooth to hold a filling together. How do we know when it is time to crown a tooth? It depends on the depth and width of the existing filling, the size of the decay, the presence of a crack in the tooth and many other things. Essentially, there are a lot of factors that go into diagnosing a crown. If you are curious, ask your dentist why they are recommending one.