You might have considered the benefits of dental crowns if you have weak or damaged teeth. This restorative dentistry option strengthens your natural teeth, saving you from extraction-related bone loss. Current materials provide restoration options that match your natural teeth, restoring your beautiful smile.
Understanding the dental crown teeth procedure might alleviate your anxiety about the treatment. The steps involve a thorough exam, shaping the tooth, making the crown, and placing the crown. The dental crown procedure ends with letting the bonding cement harden for a few days before you return to your regular diet and oral health routine.
What is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap made to cover the remnants of a broken, damaged or weak tooth. You could get dental crowns made from materials like porcelain, metal, or zirconia. At Sydney Dental Group, we like zirconia for its strength, durability, and reduced risk of inflammation.
Dentists can make zirconia, porcelain, and composite restorations that match your natural teeth. Metal restorations don’t look natural, but they provide more strength and durability than composites and porcelain. Dentists typically place metal options on molars and one of the more cosmetic options on more visible teeth.
Dental crowns provide added strength for teeth with weak enamel, those that have undergone root canals, those that have had previous restorations, and those with extensive caries (cavities). They can protect the inner structures and lend stability when a tooth fractures from trauma. Dental crowns can also be used with implants to replace a missing tooth. Go to this website.
Dental Crown Procedure
Getting dental crowns begins with a consultation with your dentist, who performs a complete examination and takes X-rays. This process allows the dentist to identify unnoticed problems that would affect the dental crown procedure.
Shaping the Tooth
Your dentist trims and files the tooth to remove any damaged tissue and make room for the crown. They will then take a digital impression to aid in designing your crown.
Making the Crown
Dentists use computer-aided technologies such as an intra-oral camera to mill zirconia dental crowns. Digital impressions allow the dentist to create a well-fitted zirconia crown for your tooth’s unique shape and structure.
At Sydney Dental Group, the crown teeth procedure consists of scanning your tooth with the intra-oral camera and sending the images to an off-site lab. Your dentist then places a temporary crown on your tooth that you will wear until your customised crown is ready. When your crown is ready, you will return to your dentist to have the permanent crown put on.
To extend the life of your dental crowns, avoid hard, sticky, or chewy foods that could break the crown or cause it to come loose. These foods include steak, caramels, raw carrots, chewing gum, and popcorn.
Use caution during your oral hygiene routine. Brush that tooth with less force than you usually use and gently slide the floss alongside it, not up and down. Doing this ensures you don’t dislodge the crown.
Placing the Crown
During this step in the dental crown procedure, your dentist places the crown over the tooth to test the fit. They then make adjustments, if necessary, and then place your crown using dental cement. This cement seals the edges of the crown so bacteria can’t get in and holds the crown to the tooth.
Letting the Cement Cure
Use extra caution while brushing and flossing the first few days. Don’t lift your floss from around that tooth: slide it out, instead. Lifting the floss can pry new dental crowns loose.
Maintaining a good oral hygiene routine helps your crown last longer. Call your dentist to adjust the fit if you experience discomfort from your crown.
Caring for Dental Crowns
Most dental crowns last 5 to 15 years. Oral hygiene and habits affect the survival of your restoration. Habits like grinding teeth, biting nails, or chewing ice can cause premature wear. Tobacco use can irreversibly stain your restorations, and the associated gum recession can cause damage to the teeth supporting them.
Whitening toothpaste doesn’t work on dental crowns or other restorative dentistry options but can cause harm. The abrasive ingredients they contain, such as charcoal powder, etch their finishes and dull their natural-looking lustre.
Keep practising a consistent oral health routine that includes flossing at least once a day, brushing twice daily, and seeing your dentist at least twice yearly. This allows you and your dentist to detect potential issues such as gingivitis early, ensuring you don’t lose your crowned tooth to gum disease.
Sydney Dental Group Can Help
Damaged and discoloured teeth can adversely impact your self-confidence, oral health, and smile. If you need a dental crown, the Sydney Dental Group dental professionals can guide you through the dental crown procedure and restore your smile.
We pride ourselves on offering high-quality dental care for the whole family. Our brand new, state-of-the-art Baulkham Hills clinic provides the latest technology for all your dental needs.
Contact us online or on (02) 9158 6135 to book an appointment.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
Dental Crown Procedure
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/dental-crown-procedure
Dental Crowns
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/10923-dental-crowns
Investigation of the Effects of Whitening Toothpastes on Enamel and Cementum surfaces
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342282818_Investigation_of_the_effects_of_whitening_toothpastes_on_enamel_and_cementum_surfaces
Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Dental Crown
https://www.healthline.com/find-care/articles/dentists/dental-crown#
Treatment Recommendations for Single-Unit Crowns: Findings from The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5086281/
Dental crowns are a popular solution for restoring damaged or decayed teeth and are designed to provide long-term protection. But Read more
