[tatranska]

my wife was offered a gold crown on a pre molar by her dentist.
are they any good?

she had a root canal done today.

Tia

[fitzgeme]

Gold crowns are excellent and have on average a better fit, however on a premolars your wife will look like a pirate or gyspy. I wound have one except on a molar or further back.

[davo10]

Sometimes it's hard to "see the wood for the trees".

Op your wife had a root canal treatment. Premolars are narrow teeth with large pulps relative to crown size so a lot of the inner part of the tooth is missing leaving little enamel and dentine. The dentist probably wanted to retain as much tooth structure as possible to retain the crown.

The advantage of gold crowns is that they are cast as one piece and are very strong in thin cross section, whereas bonded crowns (white crowns) are two piece, porcelain on the outside, metal underneath, therefore to avoid an oversized crown more of your tooth has be cut away for a white crown.

Put simply, if there is not much of your wife's tooth left, the dentist is advising her to have a crown which will involve saving as much of the tooth as possible to retain her crown. If she wants a white crown, more tooth needs to be cut away so it will be weaker and more likely to fracture.

The dentist could also consider a post and core but as all experienced dentists will tell you, the more natural tooth retained to support a crown, the better.

[Oral Surgeon]

Originally Posted by tatranska

my wife was offered a gold crown on a pre molar by her dentist.
are they any good?

she had a root canal done today.

Tia

Gold for a lower premolars crown would be ok but for an upper would be a bit much aaaarrrrh....

[Dianthus]

As per the other posters, the only real drawback of gold is aesthetics....also, given the current market price of gold per ounce, your dentist is hit with a substantially higher laboratory fee (ie: less profit) than the laboratory fee for a porcelain bonded crown- but then, that's why he's a health professional& not a salesman
Again, as per the posters above, functionally (fit, longevity, minimal amount of tooth removal required, ect), you couldn't ask for better
However, there's equally no point in your wife having an "excellent" crown/stronger underlying tooth, but being miserable looking at it in the mirror every morning, or self-conscious of it when meeting people.
It's random; some patients link gold crowns to gypsies, others equate it to old-school "money". Some women approach it like almost as a piece of jewellery, whilst others prefer the most natural looking tooth possible.
Entirely a matter of personal taste.

[tatranska]

thanks for the replies. she is getting it done at home in Slovakia. dentist seems quiet good. took over 2 hours on the root canal. he also gave the option of a cerec crown.
which would ave the benefits as mentioned above of being 1 piece.

Will double check with her on it being a premolar. its a bottom tooth.

[davo10]

In order to be durable, cerec crown needs to be thicker than gold crown ( which is stronger in thinner cross section) so more tooth has to be drilled away.

[tatranska]

I finally got an answer on the tooth number. Its number 14...whatever that is.

[georgieporgy]

Originally Posted by tatranska

I finally got an answer on the tooth number. Its number 14...whatever that is.

it's either an upper left first molar, or an upper right first premolar, depending on whether the dentist is using the american or international numbering system.
Doesn't sound like a bottom tooth!
I assume you mean 14 (fourteen) and not L4(left four) .

LL4 would be lower left first premolar.... yet another numbering system favoured by the Irish

[tatranska]

Originally Posted by georgieporgy

it's either an upper left first molar, or an upper right first premolar, depending on whether the dentist is using the american or international numbering system.
Doesn't sound like a bottom tooth!
I assume you mean 14 (fourteen) and not L4(left four) .

LL4 would be lower left first premolar.... yet another numbering system favoured by the Irish

its an upper left. looking at it from thru front. she's going for a ceramic. I get to pay when I go out :-)

[georgieporgy]

Originally Posted by tatranska

its an upper left. looking at it from thru front. she's going for a ceramic. I get to pay when I go out :-)

Sounds like an upper right first premolar then! ie it's on her right side (same as her right hand) so gold probably would look a bit, ah, unamerican there.

[tatranska]

I was talking to my wife today. She got her crown fitted is is very happy...i'm even happier.
total cost for a root canal and a cerec crown was €190.

this is not the place to tell me about dental tourism. she was dealing with a dentist in her own language where a friend is the dental nurse.

there is also a 2 year guarantee on the crown.

costs are significantly lower in slovakia.

thanks to all for their advice

[fitzgeme]

Well we all know you like a bargain...thread closed.