I have a porcelain crown which has always had a divot of sorts which I could kind of see in the front. I talked to my dentist about it and they said it is solid so there’s nothing to worry about. Truthfully, there hasn’t been. It’s eight years old, so it did serve me well. The problem is now the divot has changed. I can see and feel it and it feels like it’s cracked a bit. I’m worried this is going to fall completely apart while I’m in public. Would this be considered a dental emergency?

Katherine

Dear Katherine,

I wouldn’t necessarily consider this a dental emergency, but you will want to get it looked at. Porcelain crowns, like our natural teeth, can have divots and other oddities in shape. That doesn’t make it defective. However, this seems to have changed. If you are feeling it differently it needs to be looked at.

If you trust your current dentist to deal with this, then go back to him or her and have them look at it. It is probably best to just replace it. Though a hassle, this could be a blessing in disguise.

Updating Your Smile When You Replace Your Crown

Often when people get a crown it is because of a dental emergency, which usually accompanies a root canal treatment. They don’t have money to worry about whitening their teeth. Then the color of their crown is permanent so they can’t do anything about it after without replacing their crown.

Because you may be needing to replace the crown anyway, this is an ideal time to do some teeth whitening. Now your teeth can be white and your new porcelain crown can be made to match.

I hope this helps. This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.