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Self-Dentistry<br />
By: James J. White, D.D.S. / Your Dentist<br />
It is quite surprising to find that patients<br />
often attempt “self-dentistry.”<br />
Recently a gentleman came to the office because<br />
one of his older crowns had come off. When chatting with his friend about<br />
having to go to the dentist because of the displaced crown, the response<br />
was “I have had that happen and I just<br />
use Super Glue to put it back on.<br />
Fortunately, and smartly, the<br />
gentleman replied: “No, I think I’ll<br />
leave it to the professional.”<br />
This gentleman is intelligent. He<br />
knows that if a crown came loose there<br />
may be more than one reason.<br />
It could be that the cement simply let<br />
go. It could be that there is recurrent<br />
decay (“a cavity”) that has taken away<br />
previously sound tooth structure. It<br />
could also be due to an interference<br />
with function; eventually weakening<br />
the cement bond with resultant loss of<br />
the crown, etc.<br />
If a patient just attempts to “recement”<br />
the crown with the glue<br />
at hand, then there has been no<br />
opportunity for a dentist to check<br />
the tooth and crown to see that everything is ok. Before a crown is recemented<br />
the old and residual cement needs to be air-abraded out of the<br />
crown so that it will fit precisely.<br />
The tooth has to be cleaned of any residual cement and the crown<br />
needs to be checked in place to make certain that it is still fitting the tooth<br />
correctly.<br />
I cannot begin to explain the number<br />
of patients I see on an emergency basis<br />
due to “happy hands at home” dental<br />
work. In most cases the problems that<br />
have resulted from trying to save a visit<br />
to the dentist will result in much more<br />
extensive and expensive care than<br />
would have originally been necessary.<br />
Re-cementing a crown over a tooth<br />
that has decay will only result in the<br />
tooth eventually abscessing, usually<br />
with great pain, or the complete loss<br />
of the tooth which will then require<br />
bridgework or implant placement.<br />
I will close this article by saying that<br />
when making our decisions we should<br />
not lose sight of the old cliché: “penny<br />
wise and pound foolish.”<br />
Remember, one is not in good health<br />
without good oral health.<br />
42<br />
April 20<strong>17</strong>
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