Top 4 Ways To Preserve Your New Dental Crowns

Crowns are quite customizable when it is time to restore your damaged teeth. They may be used to address a variety of aesthetic issues as well as strengthen teeth that are decayed, chipped, broken, or otherwise damaged. The longevity of crowns is one of their main advantages. With good maintenance, your dental work can survive for decades. However, knowing what to do to avoid damaging your dental restoration is crucial.

Following these five straightforward tips will help you ensure that your crowns provide you with years of gorgeous smiles, no matter how many of them you have:

1. Eliminate hard and sticky foods
Although sturdy and long-lasting, crowns are nonetheless susceptible to deterioration, just like your real teeth. Chewing on ice or hard sweets might cause your crown to chip, shatter, or break, necessitating replacement sooner than usual. Eating foods that are extremely sticky or chewy can also lead to issues, either by compromising your crown or by allowing sticky foods to become wedged in between your crown and gums. When possible, try to stay away from such foods.

Also, keep in mind that y our crown's sturdy porcelain construction is stain-resistant. It also implies that it cannot be whitened like your real teeth due to its resistance. To ensure that your crown matches your teeth when they are at their finest, you might wish to undergo a professional whitening procedure before having a crown placed. The crown will thus still match and blend in wonderfully if you later decide to undergo any whitening treatment.

2. Practice proper dental hygiene
Even though the tooth that supports your crown is "artificial," it still needs regular dental care to remain strong and healthy. Even though the crown covers the whole tooth surface, it still has to be properly brushed in order to eliminate the plaque layer and maintain its finest appearance. Additionally, flossing is crucial because food and bacteria can still get stuck or wedged between the crown and your gums or adjacent teeth. You will be instructed to take special care not to loosen your temporary crown when flossing if you have one (this is done before your permanent crown is placed).

However, your permanent crown is secured with a more powerful dental cement, allowing you to floss around it the same as you would your normal teeth. Additionally, even if your tooth is protected by a crown, it's typical for you to still have sensitivity concerns while consuming hot or cold foods. It's acceptable to use toothpaste made for sensitive teeth if you have such worries.

3. Quit any bad dental habits you have
Bite your fingernails? Chew on ice, pencils, or other hard things? When under pressure, do you grind your teeth? Make use of your teeth as "tools" to remove stubborn bottle tops?  Stop. These behaviors not only put your crowns at risk of breaking, but they can also result in severe damage to your real teeth. Hard objects may also splinter, become stuck between your gums, or even harm your gums. If you've already attempted to break these behaviors but were unsuccessful, try again right now. Your teeth and gums will appreciate it, and you will preserve your new crown as well.

4. Get a custom night guard 
The issue is that many individuals clench and grind their teeth as they sleep, which means they are likely not even conscious of it. When you're awake, you can at least try to break the habit of clenching and grinding since you're conscious of it. Although teeth grinding and clenching may not seem like particularly major issues, they can harm your teeth over time.

A normal bite exerts roughly 200 pounds of pressure per square inch. When you grind and clench, that pressure can rise dramatically, increasing the likelihood that your crown could shatter. By just examining your teeth and gums, an experienced dentist can determine if you grind your teeth frequently. If so, he can design a custom night guard for you to wear while you sleep in order to cushion your teeth and safeguard your crown.