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.

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.

Yes. now if your teeth were made from led then he wouldn't be able to see it.

Well you cant see thorugh the crown if that what your asking with xrays. The roots and he surrounding yea! It doenst go thorugh metals. You'll see it as a big white thing in the xray

If the crown is all porcelain, the answer is yes, and the decay would have started at the margin of the crown which is also detectible on the xray. If the crown is porcelain over a metal substrate, then you can only evaluate the margins on the xray, and not see "through" the crown. The post usually extends below the margins of the crown especially if the tooth has had a root canal. If the crown was properly glued/sealed at the time it was placed, then the most likely source of the decay started by an attack at the tooth/crown connection, or margin.