When is a filling necessary? | Broken tooth-This should be done immediately

When is a filling necessary?

A filling after a tooth fracture can have multiple causes. If there is caries underneath the fracture, it must be removed by the dentist and the defect must be treated with a filling. If the tooth is fractured by mechanical damage, for example by a fall or a blow, the lesion does not necessarily have to be replaced by plastic.

If the lesion is minimal, the dentist can also grind the edge smooth and fluoridate the tooth, which is perfectly sufficient. However, if the fracture is larger than a certain size, it must be filled with a filling. In the anterior region, a filling may also be necessary for aesthetic reasons, otherwise the patient will not want to show himself in public.

When is a temporary restoration necessary?

A temporary denture is necessary if the front teeth are damaged after a fall or trauma, so that the aesthetics must be restored. In these cases, a temporary denture is made to temporarily restore the patient’s ability to function until the final prosthesis is completed.Furthermore, a temporary denture is made when a fractured tooth is ground for a crown or inlay in order to protect it until completion, since the ablated enamel layer makes it more susceptible to thermal, mechanical and chemical stimuli.

When is a crown necessary?

If a tooth breaks off, it is possible that it can only be restored with a crown. This variant occurs when a large part of the tooth has broken off, leaving only 20-25% of the tooth crown substance intact. If one would try to build up this tooth with plastic, two thirds of the chewing surface would consist of the filling material, which cannot restore the chewing stability of the tooth.

The tooth would not be able to withstand the chewing load, because the plastic does not give it stability. Therefore, it would fracture again after a short time, as the defect is simply too large to absorb the chewing force through plastic. It can happen that the tooth breaks off even deeper or even fractures the whole crown and in the worst case the tooth is no longer worth preserving.

The chewing stability can only be given by protecting the tooth from the outside with a crown. Furthermore, a crown is necessary after a tooth has received a completed root canal treatment. After the root canal treatment, the dead tooth becomes brittle and breaks off more easily because it is no longer supplied by vessels. To counteract this scenario or to protect the tooth after a crown fracture, it should be crowned quickly.