I think this is the correct term for what I have, namely an
artificially moulded "crown" with a post that is fitted using cement
into the remaining part of my own root. This "post crown" is on my
front upper tooth.

I had this treatement done about 18 years ago in the United Kingdom.
The crown worked it's way loose several time over the years (maybe a
total of 5 or 6 times).

One such time the crown came loose again after only 2 or 3 months, but
other than that each replacement lasted for 2+ years. The most recent
re-cementing lasted for about 5 years. Anyway that is the basic
background information.

At the beginning of this year the crown had again worked it's way
loose, only now I live in Canada. I went to get it re-cemented, but it
seems that a sliver of the original root came out with the crown (still
stuck solidly to the crown by the 5 year old UK cement). The dentist
used a white resin as opposed to the gritty cement my dentist in the UK
used. I have now had the crown re-cemented a further 3 times (once
after just a week!). Could this dramatic drop in effectiveness be
purely down to the cement being used?

Also my new dentist seems to use a different approach. The previous UK
re-cementings generally were:

- gently work the crown out
- Clean off the crown, removing all cement
- clean up inside the root (generally this was done with a post and
some sort of minty tasting cleaner)
- jet everything with pressured water
- dry everything off completely with pressured air
- apply the cement
- re-attach the crown

My new dentist doesn't seem to bother too much with the cleaning out of
the root, nor ensuring everything is completely dry before applying the
cement.

He is suggesting an implant or a bridge as my only real options. I
still wonder about the effectiveness of the cement being used and/or
the aproach to the re-fitting.

Does anyone have any views?