when does a tooth need to be capped?


Question:
how badly decayed does it have to be in order to be capped? How is the capping procedure done? how long can they last? can you teeth be badly decayed and still able to be capped?

Answers:
a complicated question! alot depends on which tooth it is. obviously the front teeth are smaller and cannot handle the loss of alot of the tooth structure before either needing a crown or the decay getting into the nerve in which case- typically- it would need a root canal, a build up AND a crown to protect it.

if it is a premolar or molar- you have a little more room to work with as far as restoring it with a filling instead of a crown, however, many times if it becomes a 3 or 4 surface restoration(where the decay has taken away the sides , the middle and other areas)- a crown might be the best protection for it because the large fillings can fracture or the rest of the tooth can fracture away from the filling. a filling repairs the tooth from the inside out kind of and a crown restores the tooth by completely covering it.

i hope this helped explain it a little

Other Answers:
When it turns into a snitch.
Each dentist is different but usually if more than half of the tooth structure is affected. Or if there is so much decay that a root canal is needed, then to protect the tooth from fracturing (after a root canal the blood supply is gone and makes the tooth brittle). The dentist then removes all the decayed part of the tooth and builds up the tooth again. He or she then reduces the tooth down to almost a peg like structure. An impression is taken so that a crown can be made at the lab to fit perfectly. You will have a temporary crown placed for the 2 weeks or so it takes to get the permanent crown back from the lab. There are metal (gold) crowns, porcelain with metal underneath, and all porcelain crowns. Al porcelain crowns are usually recommended for molars (back teeth) because they aren't as strong. If the shade is matched well, you shouldn't even be able to notice it!!
Crowns can last decades, unless you get a cavity along the margin of the crown, where it meets the natural tooth. This is where flossing and good brushing comes in.
Some teeth can have large cavities and still just need a filling, it just depends on how many surfaces the cavity affects. This is something only the dentist can decide.
It is a routine procedure and isn't painful, just think of it as a large filling procedure, since you will be numbed up you wont know the difference! Shouldn't take much more than an hour appointment.
Source(s):
I am a RDH


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