5 Tips to Protect Your Dental Crown

If you protect your dental crown and keep it in good condition, it will serve you for at least ten years. With excellent care, your crown will last for decades, or even a lifetime. Use these five tips to make your crowns the last dental restorations you will ever need.

How to protect your dental crown

1. Keep good oral habits

The best way to keep crowns in good condition is to keep the entire mouth clean and healthy. Brush twice a day and floss daily. Cleaning between the teeth with floss is extremely important if a person wants to keep plaque from damaging the crown and the teeth next to it.

To prevent tooth decay, keep away from sugary and acidic foods that will encourage plaque-causing bacteria to thrive. By keeping plaque from attacking the mouth, the tooth under the crown will remain free from infection.

If the restored tooth remains healthy, then the crown will never come loose or fall out.

2. Keep the crown from becoming stained

It is really hard to remove stains from dental restorations like crowns, veneers and dental bonding. To maintain the crown’s white color, be careful with substances that stain the teeth. When a person drinks too much coffee, black tea or wine, the crown will stain.

Smoking will also stain the teeth and any dental restorations a person may have, including crowns.

3. Have regular dental exams

A person with a healthy mouth should get a routine check-up once every six months. People that have dental problems should get routine check-ups as often as the dentist suggests.

Routine check-ups are an important way to make sure that a patient’s dental crowns are in good shape. During these exams, the dentist makes sure the teeth encased in dental crowns are healthy. They also confirm that the crowns still fit tightly. If the crown is found to be loose, it will be adjusted after the underlying cause of the problem is corrected.

4. If the crown fits badly, have it adjusted

If a person notices that their newly fitted crown is longer or shorter than the adjacent teeth, they should go back to the dentist and have the crown refitted. Left in place, a badly placed crown will cause a bad bite that may lead to complications like jaw pain or injury to adjacent or opposite teeth.

A person’s bite may also change over time, causing the dental crown to become uncomfortable. Patients having problems chewing or talking should have the dentist adjust the crown.

And if for some other reason the crown comes loose, do not learn to live with it. The tooth will be exposed to infection and injury, so have the dentist refit the crown immediately if it comes loose.

5. Do not break the crown

Avoid biting down on things that can break the crown. Popcorn, nuts, ice chips and other hard substances should be consumed with caution.

People who grind their teeth should also make changes to avoid crushing their crowns. Wear a retainer to bed if you grind your teeth in your sleep, and have the underlying cause of the grinding dealt with.

Caring for dental crowns is simple

There is no need to make drastic lifestyle changes in order to keep your crowns healthy. All you need is some basic dental hygiene and regular dental checkups. Talk to one of our dentists to learn more about dental crowns.

Request an appointment here: https://www.newyorkdentaloffice.com or call New York Dental Office at (212) 548-3261 for an appointment in our New York office.