Looking After Your New Dental Crown

A little care will help ensure long life for your tooth restoration.

After a filling, a dental crown (or cap as it is sometimes referred to) is perhaps the next most commonly used restorative procedure that we carry out at our Chelmsford dental practice. Crowns are used to restore both strength and appearance to a badly damaged or decayed tooth and can also be used to make it appear natural too. Indeed, crowns are sometimes used solely for cosmetic purposes, such as to restore the appearance of a functioning but otherwise unsightly tooth.

The procedure itself involves the shaping of the natural tooth so that a crown will fit securely. We take impressions of the prepared tooth and send these to a dental laboratory where your new custom crown will be made. When this is ready, we will remove the temporary crown that we have placed for protective purposes and attach the new crown using a strong, special clinical adhesive to hold it in place. With good care, your crown can last for at least ten years, and often more, before needing to be replaced.

Looking after your crown

When you leave Blue Sky Dental in Chelmsford, having had a crown attached, you can, in theory, start to use the tooth as you would if it were a natural one. There are two things to consider though. Firstly, there may still be some numbness from having it fitted. Just be aware of this and, if possible, perhaps don’t eat until this has worn off to prevent the numbness causing you to bite your tongue etc.

Secondly, your mouth will feel a little different until you get used to the newly restored tooth. While you can eat what you want, we advise that you perhaps eat softer foods and eat more slowly for a few days so that you can become accustomed to the feeling before tackling your regular diet.

Both of these pieces of advice are to enable you to have a more comfortable initial experience following the fitting of your new crown.

Brushing your crown (and teeth)

While crowns are made from artificial materials, usually porcelain or ceramic, it is still necessary to clean them. The crown itself won’t decay of course and is very stain resistant, but it makes sense to keep it clean anyway. More importantly, you should always make sure to clean the natural part of that tooth, including around the gums. Any decay that occurs with the natural part of the tooth could cause the crown to fit less securely and it could potentially become detached (see later).  Gum disease should not be ignored either and a crown fitted tooth is just as susceptible to gum disease as a natural tooth. Make sure that you both brush around the gum line and use floss to clean between your teeth.

A word about detached dental crowns

You may have heard that crowns can become detached. While this does happen from time to time, it is still quite a rare occurrence. If it does happen, it is likely either to be that damage has occurred to the natural part of the tooth, making the tooth crown less secure, or it is coming towards the end of its life, or equally the special adhesive that is used is becoming less effective. While generally, you shouldn’t have to worry about this happening, it is important to state that if it does, you should keep the crown, rinsing it under the tap, and contact our Chelmsford dentist in order to have it reattached.

The reasons why you shouldn’t attempt to reattach it yourself are a) that you may not put it back on correctly and leave small spaces which allow bacteria to enter beneath and around the crown. This is likely to lead to tooth decay and cause the crown to be less secure and b) most people don’t have access to the special adhesive that we use and so have, on occasions, taken the decision to use household glues, in particular, the ‘superglues’ to ensure that they stay attached.  This is a really bad idea as, once used, the crown can not be removed at all, either for adjustment, or when a new crown is needed. This type of adhesive is also potentially harmful for the tooth and may damage it beyond repair.

Make sure then, that any problems that you have with a crown are corrected by ourselves. DIY dentistry nearly always ends in failure; often a failure that causes permanent damage to your teeth or gums.

Crowns then, are an excellent way to restore a badly damaged tooth and can also be used for some aesthetic purposes. If you would like to find out more, or have a problematic tooth, or teeth, that you would like one of our experienced dentists to take a look at, please call Blue Sky Dental today on 01245 211070.