Crowned tooth broken, need removal?

[IamanOwl]

Hello, I'm having a crappy day as I've just been told by the dentist that I need a tooth removed. It's towards the back but it's really upset me. I had loads of dental work done when I was young (teeth removed, braces etc) and it's left me with a real fear of losing more teeth.
The reason is that last night the tooth under my crown broke so the crown fell out with my tooth and I'm left with very little tooth. I've had the crown cemented back in as a temporary measure but I've been told that I'll need the tooth removing. The crown actually feels really secure so I'm wondering if it might last longer than the few weeks she's said it will.

Anyway, I've been advised that I should be able to have a bridge after 6 months. The tooth next to it is already crowned but with a root canal - will it be strong enough to take a bridge? And can I have a bridge that attaches to one crown and then the back of the next tooth rather than having a (very) healthy tooth crowned too?

Basically I'm panicking that I'm going to lose all my teeth and it's going to look an utter mess. Please talk me down and tell me that this is going to be alright.

Could you have a dental implant? If your dentist doesn't do them, you can have it done by a different dentist.

Personally, I'd be very very reluctant to use a root filled tooth to secure a bridge to and a virgin tooth drilled for a bridge. I would be definitely looking to have an implant instead of a bridge.

I think that I'll be going with the implant. Looking at costs it's not too much really if it saves a healthy tooth and means that I can have an implant when the root filled tooth goes too.

Has your dentist not offered you a post crown (think that's what they're called)? If there's not enough tooth above the gum to secure a normal crown, they can (sometimes) secure it with a post that sticks into the tooth underneath the gum.

I've got a couple of these.