Why Must You Replace My Crown...It Doesn't Hurt?

Patients can get very upset when you advise them that their 25 year old crown (or amalgam [mercury filling] needs  replacement. Everyone KNOWS that you don't buy one car or one pair of shoes in your lifetime and expect it to last forever. Unreasonably, they DO expect dental treatment to last forever. The bad news is that nothing a dentist...even the BEST dentist ....does, will last forever. Since I photograph all of my work, I can easily prove this to my patients which avoids any misunderstandings.

The red dye only stains tooth decay RED. The entire inside of the tooth had leakage and/or decay.

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This is what the tooth looks like when the old post was removed

This is what I found under the crown

This is what was on the inner aspect of a 25 year old crown.