Is it necessory to get a cap on my tooth which has undergone rootcanal treatment?

Answer 1

A root canal hollows out the tooth. Decay removal or excessive reduction by the treating doctor can reduce the amount of tooth remaining.

After a root canal, the endodontist leaves temporary filling material in the tooth, which will maintain seal for about 1 month. At minimum, you *must* have a permanent filling of the access opening. It should be made of silver amalgam or composite resin.

If you have minimal loss of tooth after root canal treatment, you can stop there. If there is more missing, you'll need at least a core-buildup, and probably a crown.

If structurally important areas are gone, you'll need a crown. If there's not enough tooth left above the gumline, you'll need a post and crown. Posts are like re-bar for crowns--they help to retain crowns on compromised teeth.

Ideal treatment for most posterior root canal treated teeth is a buildup (or post) and crown. However, I have a lot of patients who can barely afford the root canal, let alone a crown. One thing you can do is to buildup the tooth out-of-function, and that will buy 3-12 months until a crown is financially possible.

Don't skimp on your mouth, but don't fall for the high-pressure sales tactics, either. If you are feeling pressured to pay up all at once, perhaps you should seek a local second opinion.

Good luck,

Answer 2

Basically a rule of thumb is this: If it's a canine or incisor (one of the front six teeth) you can get away w/o the cap.

If it's a molar (one of the back two in any quadrant) you definitely need a cap (aka crown). If it's a pre-molar (between the molars and the I-teeth) you SHOULD get a crown but can maybe hold off a bit.

Here's the kicker - if there was a significant amt of decay in the tooth BEFORE the canal, and there isn't a lot left, you'll probably need a post and core inserted into the root canal space and then the crown. This is regardless of where in the mouth the tooth is located.

If finances are an issue, make sure the dentist knows that you can't get the crown right away...you would like to wait a year or so.... Then the doc can do a kind of semi-temp/semi-perm filling. Also v. important is that they remove the root canaled tooth from occlusion (grind it down so you don't bite on it) so that you don't fracture it. Once root canaled, the tooth is more prone to being broken, whcih is why you need the crown. However, you can put it off if you do the things I suggested.

good luck.

Oh, and whoever that was above who thinks the dentists just pitch crowns to make money..... get a life.

Answer 3

NO it is not "NECESSORY" but most dentist will suggest, and some will say you have to get one. Caps are expensive and they want to make the money.
If you can afford it then go ahead. I have had at least 4 canals. The military never said I had to have one but civilian dentist push for them.
Root canal fillings like regular fillings will last about 10yrs. I wasn't told this years ago. The fillings started coming out and thats when I was told.
With root canals, the danger is if/when they do start to come out it may call for an extraction. I would still ask your dentist as well as get a second opinion from another dentist.
One source would be call or visit a dental school/college and ask them. They will give you a more unbiased answer. In fact you probably could get on thu them a whole lot cheaper.
They are students doing the work but are closely supervised by a dental instructor.

Answer 4

I could not agree more with drswanson and dr92610 and I could not agree LESS with Gerald. I can't tell you how many teeth I've extracted that have root canals without crowns. Listen to your dentist. He's the only one who knows what's best for your teeth. Again this year, a Gallup Pole of the most trusted professionals puts dentists in the top 5 and used car salesmen in last place. Dentists don't need to sell solutions when problems walk into the office all day long. We can make a very nice living without a patient doing a crown on a root canal treated tooth. Unfortunately, those "saved" teeth get extracted down the road all too often.

Answer 5

unfortunately yes, because the tooth is dead and has to be protected

Answer 6

yes. you need to have that taken care of

Answer 7

why dont you ask your dentist?