Painful dental crown

Information on Tooth Crown

When a tooth gets decayed or damaged it needs to be covered by a crown which resembles the look and the shape of the tooth. If a tooth is decayed it gets damaged and broken so it can be reinforced or replaced by a filling. A cracked tooth may also be held together by a crown. Teeth may also have a bad shape or they may get discolored so a crown can be used to improve their visual appearance. Tooth crowns can be prefabricated and they are usually made of stainless steel or plastic. They can be permanent or temporary. Ceramic crowns can also be made. The best choices are metal crowns and they can be made from gold alloy, chromium, palladium or nickel. The lifespan of a tooth crown ranges from 7 to 40 years.

Preparation

In order, to install a tooth crown the tooth needs a root canal or an endodontic treatment first. These are required to reduce the risk of numerous types of infections and tooth pulp injuries. Tooth crowns sometimes require supportive foundations usually due to excessive damage or decay of the particular tooth. The tooth needs to be filed down in order to make enough room for the crown. A thread pushes down the gum that surrounds the tooth and certain rubber like material is then used to make an impression of the tooth’s shape.

After the material gets removed the impressions get sent to the laboratory so that the crowns can be made. The dentist fits the temporary plastic crown in its place until the proper permanent crown gets installed. Cement keeps the temporary crown in place and it is intentionally weak so that the crown can be removed easily when the time comes to fit the permanent crown in its place. The permanent crown gets fitted at the second visit to the dentist.

After the Installation

It is of utmost importance that a patient does not feel any strange sensitivity or discomfort after the installation of the permanent crown. Since the crown cannot protect the person from numerous gum diseases it is highly recommended to continue practicing good oral hygiene. Sometimes a crown may chip but it can be fixed fairly easily. Sometimes a crown may fall out due to different causes, so it needs to be taken back to the dentist so that it can be cemented back in its place.