What should I do if I have heavily filled teeth that are starting to break down?

Lots of people have big old fillings on their back teeth that get bigger and bigger over time.  Some of these fillings are absolutely fine and will last for years with no intervention.  However, once the fillings get to a certain size, the remaining tooth starts to get weaker and may need crowns to stop them from deteriorating further.  If fillings get too big and the tooth starts to fall apart completely, there is sometimes nothing that can be done or the solutions become more complex and more expensive but less successful over time.

Do I need crowns if I can see cracks on my teeth?

Lots of people have hairline cracks on their teeth and the majority of these do not need crowns.  If the cracks are deep, the tooth may be sensitive to cold and prone to losing a large chunk of tooth or splitting altogether.  A complete split of a cracked tooth is untreatable, and requires extraction so it’s better to deal with a deep crack before this happens.  This usually involves a crown.  There are a couple of very quick tests that the dentists can do if this is necessary.  There are also some very inexpensive ways of stabilizing a tooth temporarily if you need time to budget for a crown.