Look closer…no silver filling here. This tooth has a tooth-colored composite filling, which are supposed to be better for preventing fractures and cracks, right? So what gives?

I know I’m spending a long time discussing fractured/cracked teeth, but SO many people have them and just don’t know. Think silver fillings are the only reason? Think again..

Here’s the ‘final’ result for these two teeth. To date the back tooth has been absolutely fine, with no symptoms. We will end up putting a crown on this tooth in the near future, as long as it stays symptom-free.

How many of your teeth have a silver filling like this one?

How many of those same silver fillings have a crack like this underneath?

Ask your dentist about replacing these fillings. And don’t be surprised if some of these teeth end up needing a crown. A new filling in a tooth like this simply isn’t enough support as a long-term restoration.

But look what was found under this filling. The tooth had this very deep, significant crack. It runs down toward the top of the nerve in the tooth. In all likelihood Katherine will end up with a root canal on this tooth. Some day it will start to hurt and become VERY sensitive to hot and cold. I placed an extensive tooth-colored filling and the tooth has been fine for the last few months. We will soon place a crown to help bind together and support the remaining tooth structure, and hopefully prevent the tooth from cracking further.

But look closer at the back tooth. The arrows are pointing to some obvious cracks in this tooth. Remember, this was just an afterthought. The filling isn’t fractured and there doesn’t seem to be leakage or decay around the area that the filling and the tooth meet. It’s not hot, cold or bite sensitive.

Katherine asked to have this other filling replaced at the same time.  She didn’t like the way it looked and thought it would be easy enough to replace it while she had the cavity taken care of in the tooth in front of it.

Here’s another example. Katherine had a cavity starting in the tooth shown below. You can see the dark shadowing around the old silver filling:

Cracked teeth, gum surgery, possible root canals, pain and discomfort. So how could this have been prevented? Both of these teeth should have been supported and strengthened with crowns YEARS ago! The crowns would bind the teeth together greatly decreasing the pressure inside. This is why we talk about putting a crown on a tooth BEFORE it breaks. It’s more predictable, and could save you the time, money, and pain that this patient had to endure.

Now that this tooth has fractured, this patient will have to go see a gum specialist to have the gum tissue moved down the side of the tooth. The fracture was SO far under the gum there is no way to restore, or fix it. Also, there is the possibility of a root canal because the crack was close to the nerve of the tooth. Afterwards the tooth will need a crown to completely restore the tooth to proper function and replace the missing tooth structure.