Q: A front crown fell off my tooth with the tooth stump broken off inside. My dentist wants to do a root canal, post and a new crown for almost $3000. Can’t he save the existing crown?

A: The late George Carlin once said: “save all your nail clippings scabs, dry patches of skin…anything that falls off your body; you may need them in the after life.”

I had two patients last week with the same problem. First, I drilled out the broken piece of tooth out of the crown. Then, I was able to use a hi-tech material called Encore which allowed me to place threaded pins into the broken tooth, build up the tooth stump and retro fit the existing crown.

However, if your crown no longer fits the remaining tooth or if the break in the tooth crosses the nerve canal, you will require a root canal, post and new crown.