I’m reluctant to lose more tooth surface than is absolutely necessary, but will an onlay/partial crown be sufficient for my very hard bite and probable night grinding?
Q. Dear Andrew; I’m 31, live in Essex and have had a string of dental disasters with my current practicioner, all concerning the same two teeth (last lower molars, I have no wisdom teeth there) following accidently biting on a stone in some food. The result is that I now require a retreatment of one root canal (which I’m having in Brentwood) and following that some kind of restoration work (which the specialist endodontist does not undertake). The endodontist suggested that because I have a large amount of healthy tooth left an onlay or a three-quarter crown would be a sufficient restoration for me. I’ve previously had inlays but these kept falling out and have become displaced around 4 times each (one on each of the molars in question) in the last two years, culminating the necessity for the current retreatment. I’m reluctant to lose more tooth surface than is absolutely necessary, but will an onlay/partial crown be sufficient for my very hard bite and probable night grinding? I travel a lot and would hate to loose the restoration on a trip, not have immediate access to a dentist and for the root canal to fail (again) as a result of this. Could you please advise me as to the course of action you would take? Best wishes
A. Hello
I normally prefer full coverage of a root treated tooth with a crown. However sometimes I will use an inlay made with CEREC if the tooth is relatively healthy.
Let me know if you want me to take a look at my clinic in Chelmsford
Andrew
I think a full cuspal coverage restoration in this type of situation would be the best result. Inlays do have a tendency to encourage flexion of teeth, and root canal treated teeth have been shown to flex more. Go for the Onlay/Crown over the inlay the evidence would suggest a better long term outcome.
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