Tag: aesthetic dentistry

Close that Gap! – Dr. Shanaz

Close that Gap! – Dr. Shanaz

Meet Julie. She had braces done in our clinic before many years ago. But unfortunately for her, she stopped wearing her retainers and lost them after a while. The result of not wearing retainers usually ends up with a bit of relapse of her teeth…

Replacing dislodged old composite fillings: Dr Nik

Replacing dislodged old composite fillings: Dr Nik

It has been so many years since I last saw this patient of mine and he told me that his front fillings had came off for quite some time. He was unwell, hence the absence and now that he’s better he came to get the…

Do I need to Crown my Root Canal Treated Tooth? : Dr Apphia

Do I need to Crown my Root Canal Treated Tooth? : Dr Apphia

When a dental cavity is left untreated or unnoticed, it can progress to the deeper parts of the tooth and reach the pulp (where the blood vessels and nerves are). Since a cavity is full of bacteria, the pulp gets infected and inflamed, causing a toothache. Eventually, the tooth dies and the pain becomes on and off or disappears.

A root canal would mean that you would be able to save your tooth as once an adult tooth is extracted, a new one would not grow back. Although extraction is cheaper, it may cost a lot more in the long term especially when you have to replace the missing tooth with a dental bridge or implant.

There are only two treatment options for a tooth in this situation: to do a root canal, or to extract.

1) An infected tooth
2) Removal of the infected pulp under anaesthesia
3) Cleaning of the tooth
4) Filling of the roots & crowning of the top part of the tooth

Once a root canal has been completed, the tooth is considered clean but ‘dead’, meaning it does not have as much elasticity as an alive tooth. The tooth becomes brittle and does not withstand biting forces as strongly as a healthy tooth with no fillings does.

Aside from that, the filling material used to ‘close up’ the tooth can eventually ‘leak’, allowing bacteria to go in and reinfect an already root canal-treated tooth.

You can look at it this way:
A root canal treated tooth without a crown would be able to last maybe 10 years before it gets reinfected or breaks. The same tooth with a crown would be able to last 20-30 years.

If the tooth gets reinfected, another root canal can be attempted but with a lower success rate. If it breaks, we may have no choice but to remove the tooth.

Every human body is different, there is no exact guarantee on how long anything would last, but a crown would definitely increase the likelihood of the tooth lasting longer.

In the end, if you choose not to have a crown, we as dentists will always respect our patients’ decisions. We just want all of our patients to be informed of risks and possibilities so that we can avoid any regrets.
If you ever are in doubt or have questions, please ask us, we’ll be very happy to answer them for you 🙂

A root canal treated tooth with a crack line on the walls
Extraction of a fractured root canal tooth
Closing Gaps : Dr Apphia

Closing Gaps : Dr Apphia

Puan Aisyah came to us one day and said that she didn’t like the small gap in between her front teeth. Whenever she eats anything fibrous like lamb or vegetables, they usually get stuck and she has to quickly clean it out. It’s such a…

Getting his dream smile: Dr Nik

Getting his dream smile: Dr Nik

Being so busy with his daily work and routines are the main reasons why he kept postponing getting his teeth done. He had been planning to get something done to improve his smile but somehow couldn’t break away from his daily routines. Finally, realising that…