How long do crowns last?

 

Nothing lasts forever, but the reason for  having a crown done is to "preserve your tooth". Often patients avoid going along with a dentists idea of making a crown for their tooth and instead ask can have a filling. 

he truth is that almost any tooth can have a filling but the larger the restoration, the less predictable the result. Teeth with large fillings can me more prone to recurrent decay, food impaction( due to faulty contacts) and fracture ( since the tooth structure is compromised by not having a crown).

The other day I was at my office. My son David was treating a longstanding patient of mine whose crown had come off. I peeked into his mouth and it was clear that he had experienced a fair amount of gingival recession around the tooth and he had developed recurrent furcal decay( decay between the roots). 

David cleaned out the decay and filled it with a glass ionomer restoration and was able to recement the crown. I looked through my patient's old paper chart and found that it was made in 2001, which meant that his crown was 23 years old. After this recementation this crown may remain in service for  number of more years .  His tooth had an endodontic procedure prior to having a crown and was not likely to stand the test of time since it would have been at high risk for fractue with a large filling due to it's compromised tooth structure. 

Do all of my crowns last for 23 years? absolutely not. I really can't guarantee how long my patients crowns will last, but most do last for a good long time ( more than 10 years). That being , it is clearly possible for crowns to last less than five years and some fillings last for thirty years. Often the determining factor is how well the procedure was performed and whether it was the type of procedure that was optimal for the patient's tooth.