Expert: Steven C. Scherr, D.D.S. - 6/27/2007

Question
I've had a root canal done on a front tooth, which has a temp filling in it.  Endo said I could just have the hole in back of the tooth perm filled; my regular dentist agrees that would work, but thinks crowns on both #8 and #9 would look better. The issue is that I have had some chips on both front teeth (fixed a couple times over past 15 years by white filling material)- but both are a short from this. There's also a space between the teeth.  Doesn't look at all as bad as it sounds, but not perfect. So if just one front tooth was crowned and put to "normal" length, it would be different from the other one next to it. The complete fix would be to do both front teeth with crowns I guess, same length, no space between.  And make a new custom nightguard.

I was wondering if it would be OK to do a perm filling of the root canal hole in #9 for now and a crown later on both teeth if I needed or wanted to, like if one of the chip repairs fell off.  Does putting in a perm filling in a root canal hole compromise anything in doing a crown later?

Any advantages/disadvantages of doing this vs. a couple crowns right now?


Answer
Steve,

Based on your description, there would be no compromise in doing the filling now and the crowns later.  Even if the crowns were to be made now, the root canal access would need to be repaired as part of the preparation for the crown.

The timing of these procedures is based on clinical judgement and personal preference.  Your dentist is in the best position to guide you from a health perspective.  You are the sole judge of the value of the esthetic component.

Best wishes, Steve,

Steve