any dentists in the house?

I chipped a tooth when I was a kid and lived with it until a girlfriend insisted I have it fixed. The dentist glued a bit of bondo to the tooth and shaped it and all was good. Over the years it became discolored but I still managed to get married. About 10 years ago my wife told me it was time to tackle it again and this time the cure was a crown. Ground a perfectly good tooth to a point and capped it. All good again but it was expensive. So a few weeks ago the cap cracked in half and then just before the dental exam half fell off and I ate it. Emergency trip in and they bondoed it up again and it looks like new. Cheap too. But they tell me it will only last a few weeks and fall off and I need another crown. So....do I? Or will it last like the first bondo job 20 years ago?

Usually the first trip is a temporary, second payout is permanent.

Modern crowns are milled out of ceramic, and are really strong. My dentist has a high tech setup where he can scan my mouth with a pen-shaped camera, download the data directly to a little CNC machine, and it mills out the permanent crown in a few minutes. No more fooling around with temporary crowns (or that icky goop they used to use to make impressions with.)

In reply to stuart in mn:

My dentist has one too. My last root canal I made him let me go and watch the tooth get milled. I'm almost excited that I inherited poor teeth so I can see this done every so often.

TLDR: just get it done.

My dad is a dentist and I've dealt with some unfortunate broken front teeth. The bad news is only financial. I went through the same deal of composite goop as long as I could and recently had new crowns built. Mine are beautiful (front two teeth) and you'd never know they are fake. The process and price suck, but looking normal (good) is worth it in the end.

As far as quality goes... gold is the best, but ugly. The in office milled crowns look good and fit well, but the longevity isn't what you'd hope for. Mine were the best available at the time and are Zirconia/Zirconium. They look real and feel real. The only drawback is if you have irregular shading or coloring in your teeth.

The materials for these crowns are about $1000/ea. Add in office visits, a temporary, and other misc costs and you're well over that. If you have dental insurance, it will probably be over your annual max. If you have or can get CareCredit, you should be able to get 0% financing for it.

On a related note, I have been regularly bleaching my teeth for many years. My now "natural" color is slightly whiter than the whitest available Zirconia. You'll never notice it, but if you've been whitening be aware of it.

I got a crown a few years back, and I am amazed at the "realness" of that tooth, both in form and function. My dentist made it in house, but alas I did not think they would let me watch so I didn't even ask. I have bad teeth, so I am definately asking on the next one that needs a crown.

I've had a crown on my front tooth since I chipped it when I was about 13 years old. No issues.

That being said, I fired my dentist about 10 years ago because I suspected that I was being used to fund his kids going to university.

I absolutely needed braces (his suggestion) when I was a teenager and I refused. I'm still fine.

I had a bone cyst removed from my jaw when I was 10, it grew back. When I was 20 he said I absolutely must have it looked at by the orthodontist again. Referred me to the same guy who took it out the first time. Orthodontist reaction was "why are you here?" followed by "If it's not bothering you, I'd rather leave it alone".

During the very last visit, I was informed that I needed yet another filling or horrible things would happen and that my wife desperately needed a crown or all our children would be born naked.

That was ten years ago and we're still fine.

Make sure you're not a revenue stream for your dentist, I'm pretty sure I was paying for this guy's new hot tub.

In reply to asoduk:

thanks for the heads up on care credit. I'll give it a shot.

Both of my front teeth are crowns. You'd never know it to see me smile and they look great. Time to just get it done.

I'm glad to live in the age of modern dentistry or I'd be toothless by now but I could be driving a new Corvette with the amount I've spent on dental work over the past 25 years.

Most of my front teeth are crowns over implants - you don't want to know what it cost but missing front teeth carries such a stigma... besides, I like corn on the cob.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

He wasn't happy about me watching but since he named his boat after me I felt it was the least he could do. It sucks having teeth British people laugh at.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

My dentist asked me if I wanted to watch the CNC machine mill out the new crown, and walked me into the back room to see it.