Metal on base of crown or all porcelain crown???

[Guest guest]

I know this is slightly off-topic as this question pertains to me but I was

hoping someone could help me.

I have a 5 year old crown that cracked and the tooth underneath it cracked. It

cracked at the gumline and caused a lot of damage to the tooth. It was a Cerec

(sp?) crown. I wanted to replace it with an all porcelain crown but the dentist

said that the crack was rather unusual and would have taken more than just

biting down on something hard. She thinks there must have been some torque to

the bite to crack it off like that. She is advising that I get a porcelain

crown with a metal base as it will be much stronger.

I am hesitant about having metal placed in my mouth and she said that she would

be happy to go with whatever I am most comfortable with but she wanted me to

know the risk that the porcelain crown would be more likely to break again than

one with a metal base. That particular tooth has already had so much damage

that another major break could mean that it would be able to hold another crown

without more extensive work (either an implant or some other procedure...both of

with would ultimately require metal for placement).

Does anyone have any knowledge of the risks of metal used in dentistry?

Obviously I am aware of the risks of mercury but I don't know about metal like

this. She said it is not nickel. It is a combination of platinum and other

things but I don't know what.

Thoughts?