Straight Teeth in Less Time
How Can A Dentist Restore A Significantly Decayed Tooth?
Lois Murray
It's actually quite remarkable how badly decayed a tooth can be, while still being able to be restored. Once a tooth has been compromised to the point that a significant portion of its structure has been lost, it might seem like extraction is really the only course of action. This is not always going to be the case, but your dentist won't simply rebuild the tooth without giving it a sturdy foundation.
Simple Restorations
When the deterioration of a specific tooth is advanced, your dentist can't simply restore it using a filling material (composite resin or dental cement). This will only yield short term results, as any restoration will quickly degrade without sufficient support. So how does a dentist add support to a deteriorated tooth?
Root Canals
A root canal is generally necessary, as the tooth's internal pulp chamber (where the nerve is housed) will have been breached, leading to pulp necrosis (death of the nerve). Your dentist will access this pulp chamber to remove the dead or dying pulp, before thoroughly irrigating the chamber. You're now left with a hollow pulp chamber, which will be modified to support your restoration work.
Support Posts
Your dentist will now insert a support post into the empty pulp chamber. This can be metal or non-metal (ceramic or zirconia) and will be slotted into the hollow. This support post must extend for at least the length of the tooth's natural crown, if not longer. Its width must also reflect the width of the chamber, but once inserted, the post will be bolstered with additional support, such as with the application of gutta-percha (a type of thermoplastic latex derived from the gutta-percha tree), which will be added around the post.
Dental Crowns
Once the post is in place, your dentist can restore the tooth's structure. This is where dental crowns come into the process. The crown is added over the tooth, encasing it and restoring its structural integrity, which is only possible with the underlying support post. And there you have it — a tooth that was on the verge of being lost forever has been restored.
A Permanent Solution
The primary drawback to this post and core procedure is its permanence. It can be difficult to remove the support post after insertion, so if the tooth was to encounter any further problems, extraction might be necessary, after which the tooth will be replaced with a dental implant. This is a worst-case scenario, although you need to be diligent with your oral hygiene to prevent further deterioration of your restored tooth (not to mention the other teeth in your mouth).
So while you might think that extraction is the only option for your tooth, it's remarkable what a simple support post can do.
For more information about dental crowns, talk to a dentist.
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I had braces when I was a kid. Back then, you had to wear those metal wires and rubber bands for what seemed like forever. When I saw that my child’s teeth were going to be crooked like mine, I was dreading the years of braces and orthodontist appointments and limited diets that I saw stretching ahead of us. I was pleased to find out that braces today are very different from braces when I was a kid. They don’t need to be worn for nearly as long, and they aren’t as intrusive, either. My daughter got braces that can barely be seen, and she can remove them when she eats, so she doesn’t have to give up her favorite foods. I was so impressed that I started a blog to talk about modern day tooth straightening techniques. Braces have come a long way.