Had a dental check up/clean this week and all was deemed well by dentist whom I've been attending for almost 2 years. However after I went home I noticed that eating felt strange around the area of a molar which has had crown for over 12 years. No pain but just felt like food was getting caught in that area.
A few days later I went back to the dentist who took a look and quite easily was able to pull the crown off.
On inspection he said that the tooth, which had had root canal treatment many years ago, was decaying. He cleaned it up and replaced the crown, which he says was originally poorly done, and advising that we should see how it holds up but may need to consider removing the tooth and an implant.
I presume that at my check up he should have seen evidence of a deteriorating/cracked crown requiring further investigation? His suggestion that diet/sugar etc is responsible for the decay doesn't quite hold up - is decay possible unless the crown is breached? Also, my general dental health is good - good diet, brushing, dental sticks etc, and I don't have decay elsewhere so it sounds as if the decay is due to a breach in the crown?
It feels as if a sticking plaster has been applied to the problem and I'm wondering how to go forward with this. Do dentists routinely check crowns at check up and do X-rays reveal issues? How will I know if there is not further decay happening in future? (since it seems to have been missed on this occasion). Will a quietly decaying tooth cause any bone issues, issues for surrounding teeth? Is it better to be just done with the tooth and go for an implant?
The dentist seemed to take a very casual approach to these questions when raised and said there was no point in worrying about it and that I had been dealt a poor hand with a badly done crown😒