Broken Cerec

[Trudy]

Hello

I had a new Cerec filling placed about one year ago, my dentist recommended at the time because it was quicker and looked better than the silver fillings that are in my other teeth.

I have been very pleased with it until this morning. Whilst eating breakfast, the Cerec fractured in half. Half of it came out immediately and left a big gap inside my tooth which feels huge. The rest of the cerec is still inside my tooth but my tooth is very sensitive to air now.

What do you recommend I should do with this broken cerec? Is there anything that can be used to repair it or does it need to be redone? Are there any stronger materials that can be used?

[Dr Vahid Motahar]

Hi,

Thank you for your question.

For a broken Cerec crown there is no repair and it needed to be redone by another Cerec or a different type of crown. Te strongest type of crowns are all metal crowns that do not break like gold crowns and depending on the tooth and its position you may need a metal crown. Of course the aesthetic of gold crowns is not as good as ceramic crowns but in some cases thety may be no alternative.

Some may suggest the use of tooth coloured porcelain bonded crowns which have porcelain on top of a metal core. But one has to remember that these crowns,although have a metal core, but they are only as strong as the strength of the porcelain and porcelain can chip off.