I have a bridge on my upper right side. I was in for a regular appointment and my dentist said that one of the teeth that he called an anchor tooth was cracked and because of that I needed to replace my entire bridge. If I have no pain or symptoms, could he be wrong? If not, is there another option?
Sandy
Dear Sandy,
I am a bit sceptical of your dentist’s diagnosis. Here is why. First, it would be highly unusual for a tooth with a dental crown on it to get crack on it that needs to be extracted. When a tooth is cracked, the usual solution is to place a crown on the tooth in order to protect it. Second, you have not had any symptoms. If a tooth is cracked, you would normally have a sharp pain whenever you bit down on the tooth. I can’t say no dentist has seen a tooth with a crown of it have a crack at the root, but I’ve never heard of one.
Needing to replace an entire because of one problem (even though I’m not convinced your dentist diagnosed you correctly) does illustrate one of the downsides of replacing a missing tooth with a dental bridge instead of a dental implant. Not only do you have to place a crown on two healthy teeth which are adjacent to the fake tooth, but if anything goes wrong with one part of the bridge, the entire unit needs to be replaced.
On the off chance that something is seriously enough wrong with the adjacent tooth that it does need to be extracted, you have a couple of choices. First, you can get another dental bridge, but the second one would need to be even longer. Just be aware that the more extended the bridge the greater the pressure on the anchor teeth (the teeth with crowns on the end of the bridge). Another option is to replace those two teeth with dental implants. Sometimes it is possible to do one implant for two teeth that are right next to each other.
My suggestion is you get a second opinion on that tooth. Don’t tell them the dentist or his prognosis. Instead, just go and say, I want a second opinion on my tooth.
This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Phoenix, Dr. Hillary Peck.