Delaying the loss of a tooth

This case presented as tooth (upper lateral) giving pain and was scheduled for removal and replacement with an implant retained crown. As the images show it is possible for us to do alternative work to try and delay the loss of the tooth for a few more years so putting off any replacement treatment. Whenever we are planning the loss of a tooth we should always consider how long the replacement options are likely to last. Whilst we hope that all of the work we do will last for many years we can rarely say that any work is likely to be “life long”. It is very difficult to give accurate average figures for certain types of restorations (bridges, crowns, implants etc) and impossible, of course, to say how they are going to apply to each individual patient. With this in mind I always feel we should try to delay the final step of extraction for as long as possible- dentistry is one way street and we should head down this street as slowly as possible! In the example below the root filling and the coronal restoration (the bit above the gum that we see) could both be improved upon and so I felt it was worth trying to do this and then see how long the work lasts. The work as completed in one,  2hour, visit and I think this was time well spent. There are no guarantees with this sort of work but neither are there with the replacement options and once the tooth is out there is no going back. This work will eventually fail and the tooth will then need extraction but if this happens 5 or even 10 years down the road then the replacement options may well have improved and we have delayed the onset of the next round of treatment by this time.

If you are worried about a tooth and would like to know if it can be restored then please give us a call on 01580 752202 and we will be happy to help.