A patient presented after being told by another dentist that they could not save her tooth. I understand that some teeth are more difficult to save. But, the patient was not interested in getting an implant so we saved it.
We placed 2 minim pins to retain the build-up in the area of the missing palatal cusp. I have successfully saved several teeth using the very small titanium minim pins. Because you carefully pilot the holes before placing them, when placed successfully, they do not significantly increase the risk of root fracture. [Note: if you complete a root canal and place a post in the root space, this is different than placing minim pins in the tooth, posts in the root space have been shown to increase the risk of root fracture. Luckily, we did not enter the root space when cleaning out the decay on this tooth.]
We milled out the crown using Obsidian (lithium silicate), baked in the furnace for 22-minutes, cooled, and seated onto the newly restored tooth.
If you need to save a tooth, call us 512-454-2744.
Sincerely,
J. Russell McFarlane