Sometimes, when a tooth has broken off due to fracture or decay, there's simply not enough of your natural tooth remaining to place a crown. Fortunately, we can replace the missing portion and save your tooth by placing a post inside your tooth, which will then anchor a filling material, called a core.

The first step in placing a post is performing root canal therapy on the tooth to remove the infection and shape the root canal to receive the post. We'll use a small instrument called a dental file to shape the top of the root canal, select a post, and then cement or bond it in place. Depending on the situation, we may use posts made of metal, fiber-reinforced plastic, or carbon fiber.

After the post is in place, we fill the tooth with the new core material. Once it has hardened, the core material is shaped and prepared to receive a crown. We then take an impression of your teeth so that a dental laboratory can custom-craft a crown that will precisely fit your tooth.

We'll place a temporary crown to cover and protect the prepared tooth while your custom crown is being created. To ensure the proper fit of your final crown, it's important that your temporary crown stay in place, but on rare occasions, it may become loose or fall out. If this happens, keep it and call us and so we can re-cement it. You'll also need to be careful when you floss, removing the floss from the side of your tooth rather than the top so you don't pull off the temporary. Avoid eating hard or sticky foods (especially gum), and if possible, chew only on the opposite side of your mouth.

At your next appointment, we'll remove the temporary crown and replace it with your new custom crown.