NHS crown

[Nick123]

Hello

I had an NHS crown fitted last month on my back top molar tooth after the tooth fractured in the middle. The dentist said that to save the tooth from more damage, it needs to be crowned.

He then shaved the tooth down and placed a gold NHS crown on that tooth and at first I did not have any problems with the crown. After a few days, I started to get sensitivity from the crown whenever I drank any cold drinks.

Over the last few days the sensitivity has become much worst and I cant put any pressure on the crown when I am eating. The problems that I am getting from this tooth seem to be gradually getting worst and worst and I dont think I can ignore them anymore.

What do you think has gone wrong with this crown? Is it possible that it may have infection or is this problem normal after having crowns fitted?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

We will need to assess your tooth clinically to be able to tell you what is wrong with the crown. It could be either that the crown is too high, in which case the high portion will need to be shaved down to ease the bite pressure on that tooth.

Another scenario is that the pulp inside of the tooth may have become inflamed and this can happen occasionally after teeth have been shaved down for a crown. If this is the case, the tooth will need root canal treatment.

[Mike0]

Slightly off subject but . . . . at a point in the past I was told that the NHS wouldn't cover crowns on molars. Can I know what they will cover and what they won't and the rationale behind it?

Thanks

Mike

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

As far as I know, crowns are provided on the NHS but to find out exactly what is covered and what is not covered on the NHS, you need to contact your local primary care trust and they will be able to provide you with more information on this topic.