Expert: Tony Appleton BDS DPDS - 11/6/2008

Question
When I was eleven years old, I dropped a telephone(silly kids) on my front left tooth. It broke off diagonally from the gum line to the tip of my tooth. My mother took me to the dentist at that point and the dentist reatatched my tooth(i still had it). A few weeks later, while eating, the tooth broken off again. I went back to the dentist and he used some sort of material to create a fake tooth and atached it to my remaing tooth. I remember, then, having a root canal. He told me that this was just a temporary fix and I would need a crown later. Well I am 25 years old now and I still have that temporary fix. I learned to eat around that tooth at such a young age, so it has remained in place. I have not seen a dentist since then due to monetary reasons. I know I should have but we couldn't afford it. Unfortunately, recently the tooth has started to yellow and then brown on the part that isn't really my tooth. I know I need to get this taken care of but I am not sure what all this entails. Do you have any info about what a dentist might do in this situation. I would love to be able to use my front teeth one day but I have developed such a phobia about this whole thing that I do not know what to do. Thank you so much for your time.

Answer
Hi Amanda

You could have another filling placed similar to what you had done last time, or a better long-term solution would be to have a crown on the tooth.

Make the appointment and talk to the dentist about your options.

Regards

Tony Appleton