I had 12 of my front teeth crowned, all at once. BEst thing I ever did, I just love the way I look now. Have nice white straight teeth when I smile.

I will be the first to tell you your fears are "foolish".

Have it done, you will look better and feel better for doing it.

Ditto on the foolish. I've had one crown and there was nothing to it. The only thing that hurt was getting the bill!

Ditto - The bill is the worst part. I never like the temp crowns, but the last one held up better than they used to.
Seriously, if your dentist is competent, this is a pretty routine procedure.
The second appointment to get the final crown set is truly a piece of cake.

Really? You have nothing to worry about! Dentists numb you so you don't feel anything much. If it were painful, they could not do the procedure because patients would be crying out and closing their mouths.

The hardest part is the first appointment. Of course, every situation is different, but for me, that appointment involves about an hour in the chair. It's tiresome to hold your mouth open that long, and you'll have some soreness after. There is no pain during the procedure, however. At that time the dentist will put the temporary on your tooth. Next appointment will be to take the temp off and put on the real crown. That doesn't take long. You'll probably have a little soreness after that also. In a day or so, you won't notice any difference between the crown and your old tooth. If the crown doesn't feel "quite right" after a few days, call the dentist because he can make adjustments as to how it fits with the tooth it touches (upper or lower).

If you are concerned about the soreness after each procedure, ask the dentist what you can take. But I rarely take any discomfort meds after dental work.

It's a really great procedure to keep your teeth. Be glad it can be done and you don't have to have some more extensive work done.

A previous poster is right--the pain is the bill!

So, this is a good thing that is happening. Dental health is critical to your overall health, so good for you for taking care of your teeth. Let us know how it goes.

I don't know if your dentist will give you something to calm your anxiety prior - but it sure helps. I had to have some pretty major gum work done once, and he gave me a drug called Halcyon. I don't remember a thing.

Oh, my goodness. I think I have more crowns in my mouth than teeth. Just kidding, of course, but I do have a lot of them. I have never had a dentist hurt me. They do crowns all the time. Everything will be fine. Stop worrying.

I agree. Nothing to be afraid of. I never needed any pain meds.

I have a crown. Didn't hurt a bit but it fell off once and I had to go back to the dentist to get it re-cemented. That was at least ten years ago and it's been fine ever since.

I just had one last month. I HATE going to the dentist so I really can understand your fears. An understanding dentist really helps. I am a very antsy person prone to an occasional panic attack-like episode especially in the dentist chair. My dentist knows this about me. My dentist told me that I can take a pill that would ease my anxiety and still let me drive home. I ended up not needing it but I would have used it had I needed it. The first procedure for me took almost 2 hours. That was the worst one. I can't say that it hurt but I had lots of pain stuff put in. The second appointment was a piece of cake. It only took about 20 minutes and it was done. For me, a root canal is much worse.

If it weren't for the bill, I wouldn't hesitate to have another crown.....I've had 3 and even with a small dental plan, my costs were huge.

Shirley

Two years ago I had 8 crowns on my upper teeth. I had all the prep work done on the same day, so I'll admit it was a bit of an ordeal, but not painful. Then I wore temp crowns for about 3 weeks. But the payoff was when I had all the crowns put on and looked in the mirror! I'm still thrilled with my decision. And it was expensive. You'll be glad you did it, and you'll have saved your teeth.

I had bridge work and several caps and crowns done on the left side of my mouth years ago...(aprox 35 years) after a car accident...I still have them and have had no trouble with them.

patti

still have a gold crown i had done as a kid...(great looky loo for the grands, lol...)wish i'd had them all done way back when!

Many people have more crowns than the British royal family. They are expensive - but the consequences of losing teeth are costly too. Make sure your dentist puts you at ease; you won't be sorry for going through this relatively minor "inconvenience".

Just make sure you keep your bottom teeth upper teeth are easy to make a plate and easy to wear bottoms are different. Keep the real ones as long as you can

I got my first crown 45 years ago and I still have it. That was before dental insurance. I was 21, working and paid for it myself.

Have lots of crowns.
Not that bad!
Better to have than NOT!

Had a dentist in CA that was a nightmare but here so different. A hour and half and done. I cannot believe the difference. Because I have a gaging problem he used nitrous oxide. It really made the difference but it was all out of my system before I left the office. Just helped me relax

Thanks ALL!

I knew I would get some POSITIVE feedback here on this subject (even if I didn't get anyone to literally 'go in my place'...hee, hee!)

I feel better already! Thanks again!

nola anne

Speaking from experience, crowns are far more reliable and long lived than fillings. I have several and am very pleased with them. I had molars that had been filled several times until there was not enough tooth left for a sucessful filling. At that point, crowns were installed. I've got crowns that are more than 20 yrs old, and those are yet much better than fillings. Most of my fillings began to fail after 5 to 7 years. I have not had a crown failure yet.

One caveat: When you begin to install crowns, choose the alloy wisely because your next crown likely should be the same material, especially where two crowns mesh. Dissimilar metals can form galvanic cells creating a weak electrical current. This may increase corrosion, but the larger effect may be stimulus to the tooth nerve which can be painful. This does not happen if the two metal alloys are very close on the galvanic scale. The farther apart the two metals are on the galvanic scale, the greater the stimulus. Talk to your dentist about this while choosing the material.

Back in my past history, I began to use a a gold alloy crown due to its durability and benign body reaction. Later on, a couple more gold crowns were installed. Today, the cost of a gold crown is about double the price of other materials and I may be stuck with that.

I have a mouth full of crowns and the pain comes when you pay for it. Geez!! They're expensive! My dentist has never hurt me, but I will admit sitting there that long w/ your mouth open is uncomfortable after a while, but when it's over, it's over!

I have a few, also and never had any problem with them, getting them, the temporaries or keeping them. If I could have afforded them I would have had crowns on all of my front teeth when I was young. So don't worry. Dentistry is really not painful these days.

Hi Nola Anne,

Please - relax, O.K.?

No problem.

First - they freeze that part of your mouth.

Then ... a bit of grind, a bit of squeeze on gooey stuff (if I recall correctly), some pack and scrape ... and you're on your way.

I was a bit suprised to hear about Socks 1,2,3,4,5 ... you know - one sock for every foot (with a couple of extras for emergencies) - tell of having a little bit of soreness next day for having had her mouth open for so long, as I hadn't any such problem after mine .... but then ...

As for the major pain associated with the moths flying out of one's pocket book ... maybe I can help, there, as well.

Do you have a dental school half decently handy to your current location?

If they are willing to take you on ... their students do great work, are careful (total supervision by capable overseers) and thorough.

You'd be pleased with your experience ...

... but primarily so with the bills ... which are realy low, in comparison with the general market.

Please relax - there's not some bogeyman hanging around every other corner, just waiting to jump out and frighten the ....

.... out of you!

God loves you - life is your friend (well, most of the time!).

Have faith - life works!

Good wishes for an uplifting experience in the dentist's chair (especially if he's a tall one [but didn't have a tall one, just prior to sticking his hand, rather than his foot, into your mouth]).

Oh, that's right ... it's our own mouth that we stick our foot into!

Most of the time.

ole joyful