{"id":1048,"date":"2013-03-02T11:10:42","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T18:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mynewsmile.com\/blog\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2016-07-08T14:16:07","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T21:16:07","slug":"do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just had a root canal on the tooth right next to the front tooth. Is it necessary for a crown to be put on ? Can a post only be put in and if so, repair the discoloration with a porcelain veneer ?
\n– Ann from New York<\/p>\n

Ann,
\nThere’s a simple answer to your question and a more thoughtful answer, and I’ll give you both.<\/p>\n

The simple answer is that dentists were taught in dental school that if a tooth has a root canal treatment<\/a>, it is weakened, and thus it needs a crown to strengthen it and prevent tooth fracture. Plus, after a root canal treatment, a tooth will turn dark, so a front tooth should have a crown to preserve its appearance.<\/p>\n

The more thoughtful answer differs from this approach in two ways. First, on the “likelihood to break” issue:
\n– Yes, a tooth is weaker after it has had a root canal treatment. But there is a difference between back teeth and front teeth. Back teeth, because they have a flat chewing surface and cusps are prone to splitting – the chewing force comes down between the cusps and this pressure tends to force the cusps apart. A crown will prevent splitting of the tooth. A front tooth, however, doesn’t have these forces. The risk with a front tooth is that chewing creates a horizontal force that may break off the tooth. A crown, since it requires removing 1-2 millimeters all\u00a0around the circumference of the tooth, will actually weaken it against these horizontal shear forces and make it MORE likely to fracture.<\/p>\n

On the discoloration issue, yes, teeth with root canal treatments will discolor. However, if the root canal cement and the root canal filling material are carefully cleaned out of the inside of the crown of the treated tooth, that discoloration will take years to occur and will be mild.<\/p>\n

My preference for a front tooth would depend on the amount of healthy tooth structure remaining in the tooth. If, say, 70-80% of the tooth is healthy tooth structure, I would recommend restoring the tooth simply with a translucent or white fiberglass post<\/a> and composite. Then, when the tooth begins to discolor, that could be corrected with a porcelain veneer<\/a> or a crown at that point.\u00a0If substantial amounts of tooth structure are missing, I would use the same white or translucent post with an all-ceramic crown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hall<\/p>\n

Click here to ask the dentist a question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\nWe thank our advertisers who help fund this site.<\/font>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just had a root canal on the tooth right next to the front tooth. Is it necessary for a crown to be put on ? Can a post only be put in and if so, repair the discoloration with a porcelain veneer ? – Ann from New York Ann, There’s a simple answer to your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,21],"tags":[198,375,552,388,351],"class_list":["post-1048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-crowns-for-front-teeth","category-root-canals","tag-all-porcelain-crowns","tag-fiberglass-post","tag-porcelain-veneers","tag-tooth-discoloration-after-root-canal","tag-tooth-fracture","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nDo you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment? - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment? - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just had a root canal on the tooth right next to the front tooth. Is it necessary for a crown to be put on ? Can a post only be put in and if so, repair the discoloration with a porcelain veneer ? – Ann from New York Ann, There’s a simple answer to your […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-02T18:10:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-07-08T21:16:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David A. Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David A. Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment? - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment? - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","og_description":"Just had a root canal on the tooth right next to the front tooth. Is it necessary for a crown to be put on ? Can a post only be put in and if so, repair the discoloration with a porcelain veneer ? – Ann from New York Ann, There’s a simple answer to your […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/","og_site_name":"Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","article_published_time":"2013-03-02T18:10:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-07-08T21:16:07+00:00","author":"David A. Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David A. Hall","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/"},"author":{"name":"David A. Hall","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/60d45e438b269f3691398d223c943d75"},"headline":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment?","datePublished":"2013-03-02T18:10:42+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-08T21:16:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/"},"wordCount":437,"keywords":["all porcelain crowns","fiberglass post","porcelain veneers","tooth discoloration after root canal","tooth fracture"],"articleSection":["Crowns for front teeth","Root canals"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/","name":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment? - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-02T18:10:42+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-08T21:16:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/60d45e438b269f3691398d223c943d75"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/do-you-need-a-crown-on-a-front-tooth-with-a-root-canal-treatment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do you need a crown on a front tooth with a root canal treatment?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/","name":"Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","description":"Cosmetic and General Dentistry Questions Answered","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/60d45e438b269f3691398d223c943d75","name":"David A. Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4615c869fad982a8b037801e6bd5181b104e67228b9c0525d2ad490de1e7b78e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4615c869fad982a8b037801e6bd5181b104e67228b9c0525d2ad490de1e7b78e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4615c869fad982a8b037801e6bd5181b104e67228b9c0525d2ad490de1e7b78e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David A. Hall"},"description":"Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.infinitydentalweb.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1048"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2966,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048\/revisions\/2966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}