If you visit a dentist and find out that you have a very large cavity on one of your teeth, he or she will probably recommend fixing the tooth with a dental crown. Dental crowns are great for fixing teeth with large problems, but you may wonder why the dentist would not just fix the problem with a filling. Here are several important things to know about this.

The Problem with Large Cavities

Any type of cavity damages a tooth, but larger cavities cause more damage than small ones. When a cavity is left untreated for a period of time, it spreads. As this happens, the damage grows, and this weakens the tooth. Large cavities weaken teeth tremendously, and fixing them with fillings is not always the best option to choose from.

Teeth with large cavities are also prone to other problems. When a cavity is large, it can allow bacteria to get inside the roots. When this occurs, the tooth will require a root canal procedure to fix it. To complete a root canal, a dentist often has to remove a large part of the tooth to get to the roots, and this almost always requires getting a dental crown afterwards. Every situation is different, though, and you will need a dentist to look at the tooth to see what your options are.

Why a Dental Crown Works the Best

Fixing the problem with a crown often works better than fillings when cavities are large. The main reason for this is a crown offers strength for a tooth. A dental crown is very different from a filling. A filling is loose material placed into the hole where the cavity was. A dental crown, on the other hand, is a solid tooth shell that is placed directly over an entire tooth.

Because of the nature of a crown, a tooth will have a lot more strength when it is covered with a crown. The best part is that the crown will look and work like the regular tooth. You can eat almost anything you want with a dental crown, and no one will ever notice that the crown is not your real tooth. A crown looks more natural than a filling, and it is also likely to hold up longer.

Issues You Might Experience if You Get the Tooth Filled

If you are looking for the most cost-effective way to fix the problem, you could choose a filling for the tooth; however, there are several things you should know about this. The first is that a large filling is probably not going to last long. Large fillings can come loose very easily, and the filling could even fall out. A dentist cannot simply put the filling back in place if this happens. Instead, he or she would have to prepare your tooth once again and put in a new filling.

The problem with this is that the same thing could happen again with a new filling. Choosing a filling for a large cavity basically just postpones the need for a dental crown. If you compare the costs of getting a filling and having to replace the filling multiple times over your lifetime, you may see that getting a dental crown is actually more cost-effective in the long run, even though it will cost more upfront.

Getting a dental crown will cost more than a typical filling; however, a crown will last longer than a filling. If you have any dental issues and would like to learn more about the available treatment options, contact a dental clinic today to set up an appointment with a dentist, such as Jeffrey S. Thaller DMD.