Broken crown

[Elsa]

Hi

I had a white crown fitted on my lower very back tooth about two years ago and I had no problems with this tooth until very recently. Whilst I was eating a sandwich today, suddenly part of the crown broke off and I almost swallowed it. I dont actually have any pain from the tooth but my tongue does catch it now and then.

I would like to know firstly if this problem is common or am I the unlucky patient. Also should I see my dentist for a new crown or can I leave this broken crown as it is for now until my next check-up in three months? Can anything be done to prevent this problem happening again?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

Occasionally back tooth ceramic crowns suffer porcelain fracture and this is not uncommon. I would go and see your dentist now rather than wait 3 months because there is a risk that more of the porcelain could fracture off if you wait longer.

I generally try to do full gold crowns on the very back teeth exactly because of the problem that you described. Some patients don't like to do this because gold is not a natural tooth colour but on the other hand the very back tooth is rarely seen and is usually not in the smile zone and the gold crowns are tough crowns that do very well on the very back teeth.