Dental fillings are a reliable treatment choice in many dental situations involving either trauma or cavity damage to the center of the tooth. But time, changing oral health, and even changing dental technologies can make your filling cease to be the best treatment choice later down the line. There are some situations where your dentist might recommend having the filling extracted and instead covering the damage with a dental crown.

What are some of the signs you should replace your dental filling with a crown?

Large Filling Makes Tooth Prone to Fracture

Large fillings are sometimes placed due to financial concerns or, if you've had the filling for decades, due to what was the conventional treatment at the time. While there's nothing inherently wrong with large fillings, the lack of sufficient remaining dentin can cause the area around the filling to become weaker over time. The weakening of the dentin can then make the tooth more prone to fracture in the area around the filling. A fractured tooth can allow bacteria into the tooth and cause dental infections.

Removing the dental filling and treating the inside of the tooth for an infection can help prevent any further cracking in the immediate future. Placing a dental crown over the tooth can both cover the hole where the filling was located and also reinforce the remaining dentin to prevent further fractures.

Dental Filling Cracked, Chipped, or Fell Out

Time, poor application, and teeth grinding or other dentin damage are all potential causes of the filling itself becoming cracked or chipped. Excessive damage to the filling or surrounding tooth can even cause the filling to fall out of your tooth.

A damaged or missing filling will leave your tooth open to the bacteria and also potentially expose sensitive nerves within the tooth. While you could receive another filling, your dentist might recommend switching to a dental crown to avoid the same filling failure scenario in the future.

Tooth Needs Root Canal

A root canal procedure is recommended when the canal and pulp in the center of your tooth become inflamed or damaged due to infection or trauma. The procedure removes the pulp and seals up the upper part of the canal to prevent more pulp from getting damaged. In order to access the pulp, your dentist needs to drill a hole into the top of your tooth and that hole will need to be covered back up at the end of the procedure.

A dental crown is the standard method for ending a root canal procedure. The crown covers the hole and fortifies the outside of the tooth so that the interior root canal and pulp is no longer as vulnerable to outside forces.