When it is urgent and when it is not
Urgent: the tooth is painful to air or cold, there is a sharp edge cutting your tongue, the break bleeds, or a large piece has come away and the tooth looks pink or dark in the middle. That last one means the nerve is exposed.
Not urgent: a small chip on an edge with no sensitivity. Book normally, avoid biting on it, and mention it when you ring so it is not treated as a routine check.
Filling, or crown
A filling replaces what is missing. It works when there is enough sound tooth around it to hold it and to take the force of chewing.
A crown covers the whole tooth and holds it together. It is the answer when a cusp has broken off, when there is a crack running through the tooth, or when an existing filling is so large that the remaining walls are thin enough to split.
The distinction is not about size for its own sake. It is about whether the remaining tooth can survive being loaded, and that is something a dentist can show you on a photograph taken with the intraoral camera.
Same-day crowns, and when they are not the right choice
CEREC designs and mills a crown in the building, so most are done in one appointment with no temporary and no second visit. For a back tooth that is almost always the better option.
Two situations still favour a lab: a front tooth where the shade has to be matched against neighbouring teeth by a technician looking at them, and a tooth where the gum needs time to settle before a final impression. You get told which yours is at the appointment rather than sold the faster one because the machine is in the room.
A cracked tooth that has not broken yet
Pain on releasing a bite, rather than on biting down, is the classic sign of a crack. So is a tooth that hurts on some foods and not others with nothing visible on an x-ray.
Cracks do not show up well on x-rays and are often found by testing rather than imaging. Caught before the piece comes off, a crown can hold the tooth together. Caught afterwards, the crack has sometimes travelled below the gum and the tooth cannot be saved.
Common questions
Asked at the front desk.
What should I do right after breaking a tooth?
Keep any fragment, cover a sharp edge with sugar-free gum or dental wax, avoid chewing on that side, and call (778) 754-4488. Say if it is painful to cold or air, which suggests the nerve is exposed.
Can a broken tooth be fixed in one appointment?
Often, yes. CEREC mills a crown in the building, so most back teeth are done in one visit with no temporary crown.
Do I need a crown or will a filling do?
It depends on whether enough sound tooth remains to take the force of chewing. If a cusp has broken off or there is a crack through the tooth, a crown holds it together where a filling would not.
How much does a crown cost?
It is quoted in writing at the appointment, per tooth, with the insurance estimate beside it. Fees are not quoted from a website because the number depends on the tooth.
Next step
One phone call, and someone answers it.
3608 Carrington Rd #204, West Kelowna. Thursdays until 7pm, Fridays from 7am. Accepting new patients of every age.