Opinion of any dentists/dental experts please

[NaturalBlondeYeahRight]

Hi, be grateful for any experiences.

Broke a bit of a side tooth the other day, had temp filling put on and dentist said no decay.
Dentist (private if that has any sway) said I have four options for repair:
Proper built up filling
A Crown (bronze, silver or gold - my words not hers but that was the implication and prices)

I've never had a crown before and I am a nervous patient. When my friend said what they do for a crown it made me feel a bit ill BUT I don't want a filling to just keep falling off.

What would you do?

[SwedishEdith]

I'd go for the crown. Best long-term option for keeping your tooth. Why no choice of a white ceramic (I think!) crown?

[SwedishEdith]

Should add, I'm not an expert but have had 2 crowns.

[Sophie38]

I'd have the filling. Crowning it will involve removing more of the tooth, and is also not reversible, and it makes it very hard to work on the tooth in future if you do end up with any endodontic issues (ie needing root canal)

That means you could potentially end up having it removed one day when you could have had it fixed.

Go for the least intervention possible. A proper filling should not go astray any time soon.

JMO - not a HCP but I have a lot of experience as a dental patient.

[NaturalBlondeYeahRight]

Thanks, one for each though, any other opinions?

[Lucidlady]

This happened to me - I had a succession of fillings to build the tooth up and then ended up needing a root canal, and had a crown put on. Why not try the filling first and see how that goes?

[AwkwardSquad]

Not a dentist or an expert in any way, but do have rubbish teeth. I'd always start with the option of least intervention.

[Sophie38]

I should add that crowns are excellent when you have had an RCT. But I wouldn't want one on an otherwise healthy tooth.

[Heatherjayne1972]

Why don't you talk through all the options with the dentist before they do anything Usually the least intervention the better and you could have the crown done later if it's still necessary. There's no problem with crowns whether the tooth is root filled or not - it's a little more of an invasive treatment that's true but lots of people survive quite happily with multiple crowns.
( I'm a dental hygienist btw ).