Dental Crowns – Everything you need to know

Many people in Kodambakkam have damaged teeth. As time passes, teeth can become damaged. This can occur for various reasons, including injuries, tooth decay, or use over time. Teeth can lose their size or shape as well. 

To prevent these problems from causing any significant issues, K- Smile Dental Care, the best dental clinic in Kodambakkam, Chennai advises you on the best solutions. In this article, we will discuss dental crowns and how they help your damaged teeth.

Let us begin by understanding what dental crowns are.

What are dental crowns?

Dental crowns are tooth-shaped “caps” that can be inserted into your tooth. Think of it as a snug hat for your tooth. The crown restores the tooth’s size, shape, appearance, and strength.

Crowns are utilized to cover, protect, and restore your teeth’s shape when fillings do not solve the issue.

The dental crown is cemented over your tooth, and it covers your tooth‘s visible damage.

Dental crowns can be created from porcelain, metals, resin, and ceramics. They typically do not need special care other than good oral hygiene.

Now that you know what dental crowns are let us understand why you might need one.

Why would I need a dental crown?

You may require a dental crown for many reasons, like:

• Safeguard a weak tooth (chances are from decay) from breaking or hold the weak tooth together if its parts get cracked.
• Restoring a seriously worn-out tooth or a broken tooth.
• Supporting and covering a tooth with a huge filling and not much tooth remaining.
• Keeping a dental bridge within the place.
• Covering misshapen or seriously discolored teeth.
• Covering a dental implant.
• Covering a tooth that has been treated with a root canal.

The procedure of fitting a dental crown

Dental crowns are created in a dental clinic in Kodambakkam with the right equipment. 

The initial steps are to take out the decay and shape your tooth for a tight fit inside the crown. After this initial process is complete, the designing of your crown begins.

A scanning device (a “wand”) is utilized to have digital pictures of your tooth inside your mouth during the procedure. The computer’s software produces a tooth’s 3D model from such images. 

The digital design is then moved to another in-office machine that carves the crown’s shape out of a ceramic block. Creating a dental crown using this method is known as computer-aided manufacturing/computer-aided design (CAM/CAD). 

In not more than fifteen minutes, the crown gets prepared to be cemented onto your teeth.

Now that you know how a dental crown is created let us understand some of the problems these crowns can develop.

What problems can occur with a dental crown?

There are many problems that you might experience with your dental crown as time passes. It involves:

• Discomfort or sensitivity: A freshly crowned tooth may become sensitive following the procedure as the anaesthesia starts to wear out. If your crowned tooth still contains a nerve in it, you may face a little cold and heat sensitivity. 

• Chipped crown: Crowns created from all porcelain can sometimes chip. Tiny chips are repairable, and the crown can stay inside your mouth. The dental crown may be replaced if the chip is huge or when there are too many chips.

• Loose crown: The cement that keeps the crown on can wash out from below the crown. This makes the crown lose; it allows bacteria to leak in and cause decay to your tooth that remains. If your crown becomes loose, visit your dentist in Kodambakkam.

• Allergic reaction: The metals utilized to create dental crowns are usually a blend of many metals. You can get an allergic reaction to the porcelain or metal that is used in the dental crown. However, this is very rare.

• Dark line on your crowned tooth next to the gum line: You might see a dark line near the gum line of your crowned tooth. This is common — especially if you have a porcelain-fused-to-metal crown. The visible dark line is the crown’s metal.

How long do dental crowns last?

On average, dental crowns last for five to fifteen years. The crown’s durability depends on the “wear and tear” to which it is exposed. It also depends on how properly you follow personal mouth-associated habits and oral hygiene practices. Such mouth-associated habits can involve things including:

• Clenching or grinding your teeth
• Chewing ice
• Biting your fingernails
• Using your teeth to open the packaging

Does a crowned tooth need any special care?

A crowned tooth does not require any particular care. However, the underlying tooth still needs to be safeguarded from gum disease or decay. Due to this, you must continue to follow proper oral hygiene practices. 

Such practices involve brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing once during the day, particularly around the crown area where your gum meets your tooth. 

Also, avoid biting on rough surfaces with porcelain crowns (for instance, chewing ice or popcorn hulls) to avoid cracking the porcelain.

If you follow some safety instructions, your dental crown will last for a long time and will not give you any problems.