USING CROWNS TO PREVENT TOOTH FRACTURE

Placing crowns to prevent tooth fracture is thought to be a common but infrequently documented treatment procedure. Two studies are describe d that provide information about dentists' use of crowns to prevent to oth fracture. North Carolina general dentists indicated that 44% of th e crowns they placed were for the principal reason of fracture prevent ion. However, when groups of dentists examined the same patients, ther e was little agreement about which teeth should be crowned due to risk of fracture. These results suggest that the placing of crowns to prev ent fracture merits a careful determination of effectiveness and appro priateness.