Dentist says I need braces to straighten crown?

Conrad3000

Hi all.

Went to the dentist about 10 days ago due to a crooked crown on one of the top teeth. He took an x-ray and it came back with no issues. I did mention that it was causing some pain, and that I have to kinda 'whack' the middle of the crown to reduce the discomfort.

Apparently it's held by some sort of pin, and over time (about 20+ years later) it's in the crooked position it's in.

I asked him why not just replace it, and he says it'll make the other tooth look big. I couldn't quite understand that since I thought if he got an exact replicate of the crown and added it to where it was originally, there'd be no problems.

He just kept saying only braces will bring that crown back to it's original position.

Now obviously I'm not an expert, but surely there must be another solution than paying upwards of £2000+ to sort out one lousy crown??

Thanks.

brook2jack2

The crown itself will not have moved, the whole tooth it is fixed to will have moved over time. From the sound of it the tooth has moved forward and the space it used to occupy between the other teeth has closed slightly.

Because the space it used to occupy is smaller in order to fit a straight crown back in the space it will need to be smaller. So compared to your other front teeth it will look small.
To make the crown straight and the right size the dentist will need to create a bigger space between the other teeth. 

The only way to do that is by braces or by filing down the teeth either side of the crown which may very well not be a good idea. Or just accept the crown will be crooked. 

Thats my interpretation but obviously only a dentist who can see you and your X rays can give a proper opinion.

Conrad3000

Thanks Brook.

What about a bridge? Would there be any issues in removing that old crown and attaching, as I say, a bridge instead?

brook2jack2

If you are having a bridge the tooth would need removing altogether, the tooth or teeth next door would need to be ground down. That drilling involves a level of risk to the teeth , around 25% of teeth drilled in this way need root filling. Your gums need to be in good condition. 

However this still probably  not solve the problem of not enough room to put a normal sized tooth in the gap . It sounds as if the space has closed up and other than moving the teeth back to make enough space eg with a brace , there may be no other way to fill in that gap other than with a tooth that sticks out or that is made very small to fit in the gap.