Post and Core
After a root canal, the dental restorative procedure known as post and core may be used.
A post and core can aid in keeping a dental crown in place when a sizable piece of the tooth’s structure has been removed. Dental crowns are placed on top of the teeth to shield teeth from additional harm or infection.
What Do Post and Core Mean?
Your tooth’s pulp-filled cavity and a part of the tooth are removed during a root canal operation. The pulp includes:
- Connective tissue, nerves, and blood vessels
- A tooth may have lost too much of its structure to operate normally in some cases.
- When this happens, a post and core procedure can be used to rebuild or reconstruct the lost tooth structure and retain a dental crown.
How and When Are Posts and Cores Used?
The root canal must be stripped of its initial pulp-filled cavity or chamber before a post and core surgery can be performed (the root is still present).
After being sealed during the root canal operation, the post is inserted within the canal. This post and core are thus carried out following a root canal.
Certain instances, when more than 50% of your tooth’s original structure has been removed, are the ones that your dentist advises is a post and core operation. The post assists in maintaining the dental crown and core mechanically in these situations.
The post and core operation is not done if the fine dental structure is left to maintain a crown.
There Are Two Categories of Post and Core Procedure:
- Prefabricated post and core-: This is a prefabricated unit.
- Cast post and core – This one-piece item was created to order in a dental laboratory. It might be built with several posts.
Based on the severity of the damage or decay to your tooth, your dentist will decide which is ideal for you.
Prefabricated posts and cores often require just one session, whereas cast posts and cores operation typically require two.
Procedure For Post Placement
Step1 – Creating the Post Space Area
Your dentist must first prepare the area inside your tooth where the post will be affixed.
This location will be inside one of the tooth’s root canals, which were closed up (sealed) during endodontic therapy using gutta-percha, a material resembling rubber.
Through the Use of a Dental Care Drill
Most dentists employ a dental drill (of slow speed) to make the required channel for the post.
The dentist’s drill generally penetrates gutta-percha, following the path of the root canal, without encountering any resistance or deviating from its intended course since it has the consistency of a soft pencil eraser.
The dentist may soften the gutta-percha in this procedure using a heated tool, making the drilling process easier and more predictable.
Manual Labor
A more careful technique has the dentist heating the gutta percha in the canal to soften it and then scraping or scooping it out using hand instruments. A dental drill or root canal files are then used to form the empty channel further.
This method is safer than using a drill alone to make the post spacing since there is always a danger that the drill will veer off course. A perforation might happen in the worst-case situation.
Step 2 – Fitting the Posts
After creating the post space within the tooth, the dentist must assess how the particular post they have chosen for implantation fits in its prepared channel.
Post And Core’s Benefits And Drawbacks
The strengths and downsides of a post and core operation are listed below.
Pros
You can keep your tooth with a post and core operation, avoiding the necessity for extraction and potentially expensive dental replacement.
Cons
- Teeth are not strengthened or reinforced by post and core operations.
- In rare cases, a post may, over time, stress or weaken your teeth.
- After a root canal, the dental restorative procedure known as post and core may be used. A post and core are used to save an existing tooth that has suffered considerable internal structural loss.
- A dental crown is secured to the tooth with a post and core to protect a tooth from infection and additional harm.
Schedule A Consultation
If you have a damaged tooth, schedule a consultation with our dentist at SmileMint Studio in Delhi. Our dental experts will guide you with the right dental treatment for your dental issues. While consulting, check with your dentist whether you require a post and core that retains the strength of the natural teeth.
FAQ's
The dentist chooses how to repair a tooth based on the severity of the damage. Although root canal therapy isn't usually required before a crown, it IS necessary if a tooth needs a Post to build up enough tooth structure to retain a crown. Additionally, it is preferable to have a root canal before getting a crown since if the tooth is severely damaged to the point that a crown is required, there is a strong possibility that it may eventually develop symptoms and require a root canal. If so, access is gained by destroying a perfectly excellent crown.
The kinds of cement that dentists utilized in the past didn't do anything to help with post-retention. While the cement filled up the area around the post, neither the tooth nor the post formed an adhesive connection.
Dental professionals may now pick from a variety of sticky cement varieties. Even yet, obtaining proper post retention largely depends on the post's physical qualities.
A dentist usually has a variety of post sizes to pick from, but it's easy for them to decide which one to use initially.
Posts often come in sizes that correspond to the diameters of drill and root canal files (diameter and taper)
It is advised that the tooth be covered with a crown after implanting a post and core. A broken tooth might result from waiting too long for the crown. Afterward, the tooth can fall out.
Before putting the crown, you can strengthen your severely decaying tooth with a core, but a Post can only be affixed to a root canal-treated tooth.
1. Can a severely damaged tooth be repaired without a root canal?
The dentist chooses how to repair a tooth based on the severity of the damage. Although root canal therapy isn’t usually required before a crown, it IS necessary if a tooth needs a Post to build up enough tooth structure to retain a crown. Additionally, it is preferable to have a root canal before getting a crown since if the tooth is severely damaged to the point that a crown is required, there is a strong possibility that it may eventually develop symptoms and require a root canal. If so, access is gained by destroying a perfectly excellent crown.
2. Which type of cement is applied on dental posts?
The kinds of cement that dentists utilized in the past didn’t do anything to help with post-retention. While the cement filled up the area around the post, neither the tooth nor the post formed an adhesive connection.
Dental professionals may now pick from a variety of sticky cement varieties. Even yet, obtaining proper post retention largely depends on the post’s physical qualities.
3. How are posts selected?
A dentist usually has a variety of post sizes to pick from, but it’s easy for them to decide which one to use initially.
Posts often come in sizes that correspond to the diameters of drill and root canal files (diameter and taper)
4. Do you need a crown after the implantation of a post and core?
It is advised that the tooth be covered with a crown after implanting a post and core. A broken tooth might result from waiting too long for the crown. Afterward, the tooth can fall out.
5. Is it possible to perform a post and core without a root canal?
Before putting the crown, you can strengthen your severely decaying tooth with a core, but a Post can only be affixed to a root canal-treated tooth.
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