Is this a case of gorilla bite?

A little over three months ago I had a root canal and crown done. Tonight not only did the crown come out it broke off the post also. What do you reccomend doing to fix this? And since it didn’t even last four months should my dentist be responsible?
– Gerrard from California

Gerrard,
It sounds like a nasty situation, this tooth of yours. I suspect that the crown didn’t just come loose but broke off at the gumline. I’m guessing here somewhat, and answering based on what I’m visualizing of your situation, based on the few details you’ve given me. Not being able to see what has actually happened, I want to try to be helpful based on what is probably going on here. Anyway, if the post broke off, I’m guessing the tooth also broke off. It creates kind of a tough situation because there probably wasn’t a lot left of the tooth to start with. And if the post and crown have failed, it may be that the tooth really can’t be saved.

If not, then maybe the post was just weak and this can be re-done so that it works.

I want to be careful here, because I don’t want to make it sound like your dentist was anything other than well-intentioned and appears to have been trying to save a tooth that is proving pretty tough to save, which to me is admirable. And there could be extenuating circumstances. There are some patients that have what some dentists call a “gorilla bite” that generates a tremendous amount of force, and once they hit a certain age and their teeth start breaking down, they tend to break anything a dentist puts in their mouth. Having said that, if this post and crown only lasted three months, yes, if I were the dentist, I would eat some of the cost. What I would do when I tried what ended up being heroics to try to save a tooth, and I didn’t adequately warn the patient that this treatment might not work, I credited to the patient the cost of what I did do against the more aggressive treatment that I should have done in the first place. You are very likely going to need more aggressive treatment here – possibly a bridge or an implant to replace this tooth. So I think that credit would be fair. But whether the dentist is legally responsible to do that for you would depend on if he or she actually did something wrong, and it’s not clear that this is the case.

If you are one of these people with the “gorilla bite”, then your dentist may have to make you a night guard to help protect you against breaking off more teeth. You can tell the person with the “gorilla bite” by looking at the profile. If the bottom of the lower jaw is parallel to the upper jaw, that’s the “gorilla bite.” If that’s you, get a hard plastic night guard fitten to your upper teeth and wear it faithfully every night. I had three or four patients like that, and that was the only way to keep them from breaking off teeth. If you’re not, then count your blessings and just address this one tooth that may be unrestorable.

Dr. Hall

Links: Read about another patient who kept breaking teeth off, so had his whole mouth rebuilt with 28 crowns and has continued to break off teeth. This is likely a true case of gorilla bite.