A year following crowning of a molar with a gold crown my tooth cracked down to the root causing the crown to dislodge and leading to a very bad abscess which had to be drained and the tooth subsequently removed . I was really quite ill over this time. Today I took the offending crown to a place that purchases gold and on thorough testing they found no gold but only base metal. This was a crown from an N.H.S dentist and sold to me as gold. Would it be a reason why I became so unwell and is this common practice to describe a gold crown as such when it is not? I have since had another crown ( porcelain) which has a black mark centraly is this something I should have cause to complain about? Thank yo in advance for your answer