Tooth Replacement Options

Re-Restoration

Cycle of Re-Restoration

Adult patients often have one or more crowns as a consequence of large restorations that had been broken down and needed to be replaced in order to restore the integrity of the teeth. Tooth decay and root canal therapy are the primary causes for failure of crowns and these teeth are at increased risk for extraction as a result of these complications, which are a leading cause of loss of back teeth.

It is interesting to note that as a result of decay or root canal failure, nearly 30% of the people between the ages of 50 and 59 years examined in a US National Survey had one or multiple missing back teeth.

Brantley published this data in 1995:

  • The more frequently a patient visited a dentist, the more restorations he was likely to receive. Furthermore the more restorations a patient had, the more he was likely to receive in the future.
  • 70% of dental treatment recommendations result in an increased number of restored surfaces.
  • Prosthesis failure is common (due to failure of a tooth under the prosthesis).
  • Replacement restorations are larger than the ones that preceded them.

What this data shows us is that crowns and fillings have a limited life span and when they need to be replaced the next restoration is usually larger or more complex than the previous one. We call this the cycle of re-restoration. As we saw in the data above, the mean life span for a tooth supported bridge is 10 years. Think of how many cycles of re-restoration will be necessary (and the huge cost and time commitment) with a tooth supported tooth replacement verses an implant supported tooth replacement.