Q.
Morning Rob, I have had 2 metal post crowns at the top/front of my mouth for over 40 years. Unfortunately one of them has never been totally successful, having to be replaced/reseated on a number of occasions. I think this may have had something to do with my ‘biting’ point. About 18 months ago I lost part of the front of the root of this tooth and as a result even though a new longer metal post was made which included a larger part to ‘replace’ this missing part of root, it has not been totally successful. It has very little front to rear strength and I have to be extremely careful what I bite and how I chew. Consequently this tooth needs rebonding every 6 months or so – if I am lucky. I have been advised that an implant or bridge may be the way to go which apart from the obvious cost implications I don’t really want to go down the implant route due to the fact that I have a very poor pain threshold and not wanting surgery which will continue over 6 to 12 months. This is assuming I don’t need a bone graft which would compound the issues. My dentist (not a cosmetic dentist) has offered to replace the existing post with a fibre post which he says will be retained in the root cavity better than the metal post. In addition he says that he can ‘build up’ the missing part of the root around this fibre post and then place a ‘cap tooth’ on this. My question is- Considering my aversion to the pain/duration/cost issues associated with an implant, is this ‘fibre post’ option a viable alternative. I know it will never be as good as an implant, but could it give me a number of years use if I was ‘careful’. I have had this replacement crown/reseating treatment on the NHS, but are there alternative bonding agents which I could pay for privately which would allow the metal post to adhere to the root better. Finally, are bridges a viable option for teeth at the front of the mouth considering the use these teeth usually have.