my tooths just broken

ellies_angel

11 years ago I had root canal treatment on a lower premolar. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago and I broke a bit of the tooth so when I was at my scheduled appointment 1 week later I asked if when they could repair it they could put in a white filling. I paid £105 for this compared to £55 for 3 silver ones and a scale and polish. (NHS patient in Scotland). Last night I was in the cinema watching Harry Potter and as I ran my tongue over my teeth thought I had something stuck in my lower premolar. I had nothing stuck, just the complete inside of my tooth had gone with all left the white filling and a bit of tooth on the outside. I had pasta for dinner, nothing hard, its not even a chewing tooth.
What I want to know is what will they be able to do with the tooth, will I have to have a crown. The tooth itself looked like it was in good condition, there was no suggestion when she filled it that it was in poor condition. Could it have been damaged when she put the white filling in?
I am far from well off and only chose the white filling for that tooth as it was so noticeable and it was a hefty chunk of money for me, money which seems to have been wasted and is going to end up costing me more. Have I any comeback?

PS the silver fillings were on molars at the back replacing old fillings I had done 25 years ago to support a brace. I look after my teeth and they are in good condition

brook2jack

A root filled tooth is a tooth that is quite brittle and liable to break more easily. Some dentists will crown a root filled tooth straight away because of this, others may leave a tooth filled .

The dentist should have warned you that as the tooth was rootfilled the bigger the filling the more likely the tooth is to break. That being said the previous filling lasted many years.

The tooth broke because it was rootfilled and had a large filling in it. That being said you have some hope of getting a good will discount off your crown if you were not warned of the risk of breaking because you might have opted for a crown straight away.

akh43

Had similar thing happen to me last week chunk of my tooth broke whilst eating a cornetto type ice cream, didnt feel the tooth break it was only later on that I realised approx 1/3 of tooth gone, left with part filling (larger part) part tooth. Not sure what tooth is called but on this tooth diagram its No 30 lower jaw, the piece that broke off was the inside 1/3rd.

Been today to the dentist (NHS) and he has given me 2 options and 1 month approx to decide which way I want to go. He was very good and gave me that best/worst scenarios of each option. I am in no pain, he says I have previously had root treatment in that tooth and thats why no pain. I recently had the last tooth on lower jaw, 32, extracted due to problems at the New Year, they tried to save but could not, dont know if relevant but thought I should mention. I am also a tooth grinder and have a lower jaw guard Dental Hospital made for me. I also have extremely sensitive teeth and feel I just seem to have one problem after the other with regard to my teeth the past couple of years, dentist says that is because I have a few teeth with large fillings, from many years ago. Age 51.

The first option is to have another filling added to the filling already there which may or may not hold and then to reassess my tooth in 6 months and possibly have a crown - cost £45.60 then cost of crown in 6 month if deemed necessary.

The second option is to just have the crown done now, worst scenario is the tooth may break off as not much actual tooth left, more filling than enamel. Now if this happens in the 12 months following the crown it would be covered but if not then my options if it breaks may work out expensive if the tooth breaks at root level - cost £190 for the crown, I think he said or around this price.

My first feeling is to go for the crown as I may well finish up there in 6 months anyway and cosmetically the tooth will look much better than it would with yet another amalgam filling. The only thing putting me off is if the tooth broke after the 12 months guarantee.

Has anyone had similar options and which way did they choose?

Any comments appreciated.

Sorry for adding to your thread OP but didnt want to start another with same title.

welshdent

In molar teeth that are root filled i almost always recommend some form of restoration that is "cuspal covering" that is the biting surface is protected from biting forces to help resist tooth fracture. That would take the form of a crown or onlay type restoration. We can not judge the tooth and what would be most suitable as we can not see it or examine it. But if it has already broken then there is an even greater risk of further breakage so my inclination would be towards crowning/onlay. I dont see much point in just filling with I assume an amalgam filling. I have seen countless numbers of broken root filled teeth with chunks of amalgam