I was told I have a large cavity and would need an Inlay or a Crown. Which is better?

When a patient requires a large restoration on a tooth, often the remaining tooth structure may be compromised and best protected by a crown or an onlay/inlay. That being said, not all multiple surface restorations require this protection. If the filling is not too broad your tooth may only require a filling.

Onlays and Crowns both offer significant protection from the forces involved with chewing. Probably crowns are the more predictable restoration and may be more long lasting, but they require more tooth preparation, Onlays are a more conservative restoration when one considers the amount of tooth preparation involved.

Old fashioned gold onlay restorations have traditionally been a favorite choice of dentists, but now they have been replaced by more cosmetic white bonded inlay and onlay restorations. No one really knows how many actual years of service these will provide as compared with more traditional crowns.