Do I need to have a crown after root canal? - Dental Health Message Board

julie321 · 11-08-2001, 11:38 AM

Do I need a crown put on after the root canal, or can they just do it through my tooth and leave my tooth alone?

kikonoc · 11-08-2001, 05:30 PM

I was wondering the same thing too. I had a root canal done on my bottom "canine" tooth and after it was done the dentist gave me the choice as to whether to crown it or not. He said that since I don't do grinding on that tooth (like you would a molar) and because it was more of a tearing-off-a-bite-of-food-tooth, it didn't need a crown. If your tooth is a molar, it's going to need a crown because of all the pressure you put on it with chewing. Teeth tend to get more brittle after a root canal is done. Because my root died (before the root canal) there was some discoloration that's not going to go away. I hear there are some internal bleaching methods that could fix that if I really wanted. The discoloration doesn't bother me much because of its location, but I was wondering if one day it was just going to crack from being brittle? Would it just be better to get a crown (since I opted not to at the time) and save myself the worry? Or do I really have anything to worry about?

Hope this answered your question and someone can answer mine.

Thanks!

Shaelle · 11-09-2001, 01:49 PM

Yes you should get a crown after root canal therapy is done. The nerve and blood supply of the tooth have been removed, the tooth then does become brittle, and can easily break. You don't have to have one done, but you will be taking that chance of it happening. Some people choose to take that chance, but most people who do, end up with a broken tooh. And it depends on how bad the break is as to whether or not the tooth can still be crowned. You just paid alot for the root canal, do you really want to end up having the tooth extracted because you chose to take the chance? You had the root canal done instead of having the tooth pulled. That tells me you'd rather try to keep the tooth as long as you can. Get the crown and keep the tooth.