DENTAL CROWNS

Things You Need to Know About Dental Crowns



One of the more common dental procedures done today is getting dental crowns. Known as dental or tooth caps, dental crowns are restorations that are placed over the teeth in order to protect and strengthen them, or to restore them to their previous state.

The many types of dental crowns

Dental crowns may be made entirely out of metal, resin, or ceramic. Porcelain may also be infused in metal to achieve the color of adjacent teeth, as porcelain-infused metal crowns look most like normal teeth.

Dental crowns that are made of metals usually incorporate gold alloy and other alloys such as palladium or nickel. Crowns made of metal are said to be the toughest and withstand wear and tear the longest.

For those who are allergic to metals, or perhaps not impressed with the color pay-off of metal-based dental crowns, an option would be to use all-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns. However, these crowns are not as durable as their metal-based counterparts, and would thus need to be replaced more often.

The many uses of dental crowns

People get dental crowns for different reasons. Some people feel a need to cover a chipped tooth with a dental crown for aesthetics. Others feel that dental crowns hold together a broken tooth and will keep it from falling apart. Also, people resort to dental crowns in order to hold a dental bridge in place. Sometimes, people get dental crowns to cover Dental Implants.

How dental crowns are made

Because dental crowns are customized according to the teeth that need to be capped, it will usually take you 2 visits to your dentist in order to complete the procedure.

During your first visit, your dentist may need to anesthetize the area around the tooth that needs a dental crown. Your dentist will then proceed to trim this tooth, if needed. Trimming is done because a dental crown needs to be a certain thickness in order for your tooth to fully benefit from its strength. Trimming also ensures that your capped tooth will be of the same size as your other teeth.

Your dentist will then make a copy or an impression out of your newly shaped tooth. From this impression, you dentist will create the dental crown that he will cement into your tooth. The cementing process usually takes place during your second dental appointment and requires a substantial amount of time, as your dentist will test repeatedly if the dental crown fits. It is at this session that your dentist makes the necessary adjustment or changes in your dental crown.

Taking care of dental crowns

If you have a dental crown, it is important to take care of it the same way you take care of your teeth. However, you also need to follow certain precautionary measures:

Floss with care. Try flossing sideways and avoid flossing in an up and down motion as this has a tendency of pulling out your crown.
Watch what you eat. Sticky food like chewing gum or caramel may grab and pull your crown off your teeth.
Chew with caution. It would be best to learn to chew your food on the side of your mouth where your dental crown is not located. This is because too much chewing action may dislodge the crown.

With proper care, dental crowns usually last from 5 to 15 years. For your dental crowns to last this long, you must pay attention to oral hygiene and make sure that you exhaust all efforts to avoid getting tooth decay and other oral health problems. After all, beneath your dental crowns are your teeth that you must never neglect..