I had a smile makeover done with eight porcelain crowns. One of them has always had a defect my dentist called a craze line. She said they’re fairly common. You couldn’t really see it, she had to point it out to me. Now it’s changed and I can feel it with my tongue. I think it is starting to crack horizontally. They are over fifteen years old so it may be that they are just nearing the end of their lifespan. Would this be a dental emergency? I’m afraid that it is going to fall off.
Laurie
Dear Laurie,
I am glad you wrote. Your dentist is right, the craze lines are generally no problem. The one on your porcelain crown has obviously changed and will now present a problem. You’ve had them a good while, so at least you got your money’s worth out of them. This cracked one will fall off at some point. I would not necessarily say that it is a dental emergency that you have to be seen for today, but I would schedule an appointment in the near future.
When you go, have your dentist look at the health of the other crowns. If they’re fine, then you can decide if you just want to replace the one crown and leave the others until they become problematic or, alternately, you could replace them all at once and be done with it. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about having to make multiple trips to the dentist.
I am curious about why you were provisioned with dental crowns instead of porcelain veneers for your smile makeover. That would be the normal procedure to use because it does not require the removal of much tooth structure. There are times there is a reason to use crowns like if your teeth were damaged and they were in need of crowns anyway. That may have been your case. Either way, once you have dental crowns, you have to continue with them.
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