Your teeth might get damaged over time and can lose their size and shape. This can occur due to many reasons, including tooth decay, injuries, bruxism, or just poor oral hygiene and so on. Dental crowns can fix all these problems.
What are dental crowns?
Dental crowns are tooth-shaped or “caps” that are fixed on top of a broken tooth to cover the visible section of your tooth. When fillings fail to fix the problem, crowns are applied to preserve, cover, and restore the shape, size, strength, and appearance of your teeth. They can be made of metals, porcelain, resin, and ceramics which are all options for dental crowns. They usually don’t require any special maintenance over time, except from ensuring consistent and good oral hygiene.
Why would you need a dental crown?
A dental crown may be required for a variety of reasons, including:
- Protecting a weak tooth from breaking (perhaps due to decay) or keeping a weak tooth together if parts of it are damaged.
- Restoring a tooth that has been broken, chipped, or significantly worn down.
- Covering and replacing a tooth that has a large filling and very little tooth left.
- Covering teeth that are crooked or extremely stained.
- Covering a dental implant.
- Covering a tooth that had a root canal treatment.
How long do dental crowns last?
If you are grinding or clenching your teeth, any restorative dental work done may be expected to last for a shorter time. Your dental hygiene routines, as well as your eating habits, all have a certain amount of wear on your teeth. Maintaining good dental hygiene and sleeping with a night guard in case of bruxism will greatly prolong the life of your crown.
Besides, the location of your crown in your mouth also has an impact on how long your crown will last. Some crowns can last a lifetime, while others can crack and require replacement. However, a crown can last for many decades if you maintain good oral hygiene practices and personal mouth-related habits.
Can you get cavities with crowns?
A dental crown serves as a strong and long-lasting cap for weak teeth, protecting them from breaking and infection. Many patients who are considering crowns or other types of tooth restoration wonder if cavities can still emerge after the crown is placed.
The answer is yes! While crowns cannot produce cavities or decay, cavities still can occur all around the tooth replacement or underneath the restoration. This is mainly due to plaque buildup around the gum line where the tooth and crown meet. This usually happens when proper brushing, flossing, and overall dental hygiene are neglected.
How to prevent cavities when you have a crown?
Crowns are a long-lasting tooth treatment that can remain for several years if you properly take care of them as well as with regular check-ups. On the other hand, constant negligence, and a lack of oral hygiene, might damage even the highest-quality crown. Hence, you should clean your teeth twice a day, or even after each meal, to avoid cavities forming around the dental restorations. Also, to remove food particles from your teeth, you can floss after each meal or use a water flossing approach.
Cavity prevention is a daily procedure that demands care and attention, but you don’t have to deal with this alone. Yet, regular dental checkups are an excellent approach to prevent tooth decay. Your dentist has the expertise and technologies such as X-rays, to identify any problems early on. So, crowns are an excellent way to provide strength, functional support, and aesthetic appeal to your teeth when properly cared for.
Can you still get braces with crowns?
You can still get braces if you have crowns from prior dental treatment. However, it is challenging to place braces on dental restorations, it takes more effort and skill than when they are placed on natural teeth. Hence, when considering an orthodontic procedure with crowns, it is critical to look for an expert.
Overall, at Clinic Effect, our specialists always make sure to use their expertise alongside the latest technology to restore your teeth and give you a healthy, durable smile.
