What to Avoid After Getting a Dental Crown?
You keep hiding the decayed or damaged tooth in the mouth, wondering what you can do to restore it. A dental visit for routine exams gets you a suggestion that your tooth is better off fixed with a dental crown to prevent further damage to it.
You start inquiring about dental crowns with the dentist near you to understand this vital option before you eventually head to receive the tooth repair you need. The inquiries you enlighten you on how dental crowns prove beneficial to repair a damaged or decayed tooth, restore a tooth that has recently undergone endodontic therapy, discolored tooth, close gaps between teeth if you have a missing tooth, and also support dental implant functioning as an artificial tooth over them. You might also receive information that getting dental crowns requires at least two visits to the dentist before you can have a customized porcelain dental crown encasing your damaged tooth.
How to Proceed When Getting a Dental Crown?
After preparing yourself to have your tooth restored with a natural-looking dental crown encasing the tooth, you head to dental crowns in Pleasant Hill, CA, to understand what you must endure when restoring your tooth.
During your first appointment, the dentist at the practice examines your tooth, taking x-rays to determine the damage. They also request you to consider undergoing a root canal if the tooth is infected or the risks of infections exist. However, if you don’t have any conditions in the mouth, the dentist prepares your tooth to receive the dental crown by giving you local anesthesia near the affected tooth and files its tops and sides to make space for a new crown to fit over it. After preparation, the dentist impressions the tooth for the dental laboratory to fabricate your new restoration. Finally, you receive a temporary acrylic crown to protect the prepared tooth.
When you revisit the dentist after three weeks, your new crown will be ready for placement to hide the damage to your tooth for a decade or more. The dentist starts the procedure for placement of your permanent crown by removing the temporary crown over your tooth. After checking the color and fit of the new restoration, the dentist fits it over your tooth using special dental cement.
What to Avoid After Getting Dental Crowns?
You might walk out of the dentist’s office satisfied that your damaged tooth is no longer visible and will remain hidden from view after getting dental crowns near you. However, your tooth and gums require some time to get over the procedure, making it essential to avoid some things to protect your restored tooth and gums. Given below are some examples that you must watch out for.
Refrain from Chewing When Your Mouth Is Numb: You will not feel any sensation in your tongue, teeth, and gums until the anesthesia wears off. Therefore you must avoid chewing because the risks of biting yourself exist and could hurt your sore gums and the newly treated tooth. Likewise, you must avoid chewing foods until the numbness disappears.
Avoid Solid Foods for Half-An-Hour after Crown Placement: the dental cement bonding the crown to your tooth needs time to dry, and applying pressure to the crown immediately after placement will move it into an uncomfortable position. You must avoid getting the crown reinstalled by the dentist by allowing time for the cement to harden.
Avoid Crunchy & Hard for Some Days: Following dental crown placement, do not consider having crunchy and hard foods. Instead, choose soft foods to ensure you don’t dislodge the dental cap. The longer you allow the dental cement to set in, the stronger the bond between the crown and the underlying tooth.
Don’t Neglect Your Gums: besides eating soft foods, you must care for your gums by rinsing your mouth in warm salt water, allowing the solution to remain in your mouth for five seconds before spitting it out. Saltwater cleans and disinfects the gums as it dries out open wounds.
Maintaining Excellent Dental Hygiene: If you need a dental crown for a decayed tooth, it confirms that you must improve your dental hygiene habits and take care of your natural teeth and the restoration appropriately. Remember that the tooth beneath is natural and attracts tooth decay; you mustn’t allow dental plaque to accumulate at the base of the dental crown.
You might require special tools when brushing and flossing your teeth. The Pleasant Hill dentist might recommend products to help you maintain your dental crown and preserve its longevity. If you care for your restoration appropriately, it remains over the tooth for over a decade.
Grafton dental provides dental crowns in Pleasant Hill to restore damaged teeth. If you need dental restorations over your tooth, kindly schedule an appointment with this practice to receive your customized dental crown.