Should you be able to see an old dead tooth after a crown has been fitted over it?

if the crown is tight, be sure to keep the exposed tooth clean by daily brushing and flossing. its probably the root you are seeing and not the top of the tooth as it is reduced to a "peg" during crown preparation. Absolutely not, the whole idea of a crown is to make it look like a new tooth. It should look natural and nothing should show between the crown and the gum. The tooth that was prepared for crowing oviously had problems. Discoloration is common for teeth, especially around areas of decay. What your seeing is probally root structure. A common problem with crowning a tooth is the lab technician makes a crown that is too "bulky" at the tissue area, this in return causes "blanching" of the tissue. When blanching occurs the blood supply is blocked to the tissue area around the tooth, which will cause the tissue to die and recede away from that area. you can probally see the crown where it meets the tooth and think it is not covered but the area that was ground down is covered. If the area is in the front of the mouth you might want to refer to your doctor about a new or different approach.