A question for denists? Is it possible to see rotting underneath a porcelain cr!
Question:
A question for denists? Is it possible to see rotting underneath a porcelain crown just by x-rays?
I went to the dentist today and had full mouth x-rays done and the dentist told me that he could see there was some rotting around my post under my crown by the x-rays. Is this possible to detect simply by an x-ray? Just curious.
Answers:
Yes, you can indeed see recurrent tooth decay around a porcelain crown on an x-ray. Healthy tooth structure is calcified and shows up as white on an x-ray. Decaying tooth structure would have lost a lot of its calcification and thus shows up as darker areas on an x-ray.
Ask your dentist to point out the areas where he saw decay. If you are not totally satisfied with his explanation, you can ask for a copy of the x-ray (you need to pay for the duplication service though), and take the x-ray to another dentist for a second opinion or even third opinion.
Hope this helps, and good luck.