All About Dental Crowns: When & for Whom

Latest Dental News: Dental crowns not everyone’s cup of tea: a dentist

While a cavity is never something anyone wants, this can be fixed with a filling. But what can you do when your teeth are cracked, broken, or worn down? In cases like this, a dental crown may be what is required. A dental crown is a cap placed over a tooth to restore it in size, shape, and strength, or to improve its appearance. They are needed to:

• Restore a tooth that is already broken or worn down
• Protect a weakened tooth from decay and breakage, or to hold the parts of a broken tooth together
• Cover severely discolored or misshapen teeth
• Cover a dental implant
• Cover and support teeth that have large fillings when there isn’t much of a tooth left
• Hold a dental bridge in place

What Does Crown Placement Involve?
Obtaining a crown usually means you’ll need two dental visits. During the first visit, your dentist will examine your tooth and ready it for the crown. The second visit centers on crown placement.

Visit one will involve x-rays of the affected tooth and gum to determine the extent of decay. Sometimes a crown may not be sufficient. In this case you will typically receive another procedure, the root canal. If a crown is indeed your solution, your dentist will begin by filing away the tooth’s decayed portion.

Next, your dentist will create an impression of the tooth using paste or putty. They will provide a protective temporary crown for use while your permanent crown is fashioned, which typically takes two to three weeks. The type of material used for the permanent crown depends on the decay’s extent. Less severe cases require all-porcelain. Severe decay may require filling material to provide additional support. The most frequently used materials for dental crowns are:

• Porcelain-fused-to-metal
• All-porcelain
• Gold

During your second visit, your dentist will place your permanent crown.
Waiting for Your Permanent Crown

Go easy on your temporary crown while waiting for the permanent crown by:

• Avoiding flossing your teeth in an upward motion; move side-to-side instead
• Avoiding “sticky” foods, such as gum and caramel.
• Avoiding hard foods, such as raw carrots.
• Chewing mainly on the side of your mouth without the crown.

Once your permanent crown is placed, difficulties may occur, but this is not very common, and most are easily remedied:

• Sensitivity to hot and cold – Your dentist may recommend a toothpaste for sensitive teeth
• Pain from a too-high bite – This can be rapidly corrected at your dentist’s office
• Chipped crown – A composite resin can sometimes easily repair a chipped crown depending on the extent of the chip
• Crown falls off – Take good care of the crown; your dentist may be able to reseat it
• Allergic reaction to crown – Very rarely, patients allergic to the porcelain or metal used to make the crown

Source: Dental Crowns an Easy Placement

Previous Posts:
Secret Way For Teeth Straightening & Teeth Alignment
All About CEREC Restorations & Dental Crowns
Wakefield Opticians: Cosmetic Dentistry in Wakefield
Difference Between Porcelain Veneers & Teeth Whitening
Causes & Prevention for Tooth Discoloration