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Crowns after Braces

10/21/2010

Question:

My daughter is 15 has braces and will be getting them off in abour 6 months. She had 2 type 3 fractures of the front teeth root canal and bonded. My question is it seems my insurance will not pay for crowns until she is 18. Do you know why this is so? Would they consider crowns instead of rebonding due to it not really being cosmetic but functional and because they were Fractured so badly?

Answer:

The gum tissue around the front teeth shrinks (called passive tooth eruption) up until about age 18. If you have a crown done at 15 before the gum shrinkage has occurred, the margin of the crown (where the crown meets the natural tooth) will show when your daughter smiles at 18.

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Go to the Braces health topic.