Kim,

To help you understand your situation, let me explain a little bit of tooth biology. The innermost tissue of your tooth is the pulp. While it is often called the nerve of the tooth, it actually consists of a blood supply and a nerve. When your body builds teeth, it builds them from the outside in, and the growth comes from this pulp tissue. The enamel is formed first. Then the pulp builds up a layer of dentin inside the enamel. So as the dentin forms, the pulp tissue is getting smaller and smaller. This process continues throughout life, with the pulp continuing to deposit more dentin on the inside of your tooth.

When a tooth gets infected, it is the pulp tissue that becomes infected. So, as more dentin is deposited and the pulp shrinks, it becomes less susceptible to infection because it has a thicker protective wall. In some cases, the pulp can shrink so much it is hard to see on an x-ray. This is called a calcified nerve. While this can make root canal treatment challenging, with the remaining small amount of pulp tissue remaining, the tooth is more protected against infection.

So, the answer to your question is yes, a crown would be safe to do on a tooth with a calcified nerve. A crown can be risky on a front tooth of a young person because the pulp is so large, the dentist can inadvertently expose the pulp doing a normal crown preparation. But when the pulp has shrunk so much that we are calling it a calcified nerve, there is really no chance of running into the pulp with a normal crown preparation.

– Dr. Hall

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