How can a tooth become fractured under a cap???

Question

I had a root canal 1 year ago . A cap was placed over it. It flared up the other day and the cap loosened. I went to my dentist, he completely removed the cap , said my tooth was fractured and that he had to remove it. I had several hundred dollars involved in this tooth then had to pay .$129.00 to have it pulled.

Answer 1

1. Bruxism (teeth tapping together, espeically while sleeping).

2. A new infection of the tooth.

3. Incomplete root canal missing some infected area.

4. The cap has been loose for a while -- do you chew gum? If so, that probably did it, getting a new infection going...

Answer 2

It is possible that the tooth was cracked before the crown was even done. It happens... The parts are held firmly in place by the bone all through the procedure so it goes undetected and then the crack finally shows up at some point down the line. It sucks, but it happens.

In the past 3 months, I've had three patients come back from the endodontist for their crown preps whose teeth were already cracked. FORTUNATELY, I am using magnification and I saw the crack before going ahead and having the patient spend a lot more money on the tooth.

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It has probably been cracked all along, but it is virtually impossible to see a crack in a tooth unless the parts have separated from each other a little bit. Since the tooth lives in a rock - well, in the bone - the pieces often do not separate for a while.

Cracked tooth syndrome sucks. It may be the most unpredictable thing we deal with in dentistry. The worst thing is, the only way to ACTUALLY know how bad the crack is would be to take the tooth out and look at it. If it was a huge through-and-through crack, you would pat yourself on the back and say, "Wise move." If it is a relatively superficial crack that vears off to the side of the tooth, you'd say, "Oh rats, we could have saved it." An x-ray will not generally show ANYTHING with a cracked tooth, because the parts are not displaced from each other.

Here's about everything you'd ever want to know about cracked tooth syndrome:

http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-68/issue-...

If that link does not work, go to this one

http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-68/issue-... and click on "Full Text."

Answer 3

Teeth can become fractured while under a crown. Crowns do a great job in protecting the tooth under it, but sometimes no matter how hard we try dental work fails. That fact is hard to take and hard to give, espcially when you are spending 2-5000 between the root canal, post, core, and crown, only to have the tooth removed and start with either a bridge or an implant. The tooth could have fractured for any number of reasons, and it is not your fault or your dentist fault. These things happen.

Answer 4

Broken Tooth Under Crown

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How can a tooth become fractured under a cap???
I had a root canal 1 year ago . A cap was placed over it. It flared up the other day and the cap loosened. I went to my dentist, he completely removed the cap , said my tooth was fractured and that he had to remove it. I had several hundred dollars involved in this tooth then had to pay...

Answer 6

Cracked Tooth Under Crown

Answer 7

IF THAT DENTIST PLACED A POST/CORE THAT WAS TOO THICK THIS MAY HAVE WEAKENED THE TOOTH LEADING TO THE FRACTURE. IF YOU GRIND YOUR TEETH THIS IS ANOTHER POSSIBILITY. HAVING A ROOT CANAL WILL ALWAYS MAKE THE TOOTH WEAKER. THE MATERIAL USED IN THE MAKING OF THE CROWN MAY ALSO EXPLAINWHAT LED TO THE FRACTURE OF THE TOOTH.

Answer 8

Yes it can. I have learned the hard way to follow through with my dental procedures. I got a root canal and didn't go back for the actual crown and it messed up my tooth.

Answer 9

cap was poorly fitted

tooth had decay after cap was fitted

sticky/chewy foods caused cap to pull away from tooth, causing damage

tooth was too brittle after root canal to support cap

Lost of reasons. Sorry, thats what happens sometimes