A dental crown is a dental restoration made of either metal, ceramic, or porcelain, custom made to fit over your tooth from the chewing surface to the gums.
Causes of Damaged Dental Crowns
Though dental crowns are strong and durable, there are many ways they can become chipped, cracked, or misaligned. These ways include:
- Caries: If severe decay affects the enamel below the crown, the crown may become displaced or start to slip off of the tooth.
- Malocclusion: An improper bite can exert extreme pressure on your crown, leading to its fracture, chip, or shift.
- Injury: Accidents or other oral trauma can chip, break, or misalign your crown.
- Teeth grinding: If you have bruxism/ grinding of teeth, it can wear down the chewing surface of or break a crown.
- Poor dental habits: Behaviors like biting on ice cubes and using your teeth to open bottles can weaken or break your crown. Also, failing to brush and floss properly and rinse your teeth can harm your crown by increasing your risk for decay, gum disease, or other issues in the surrounding enamel.
Symptoms of Damaged Dental Crowns
You may have a damaged crown if:
- There is a crack, chip, or hole with your crown.
- Your gums have become more sensitive to heat, cold, and pressure near your crown.
- Your teeth feel misaligned.
- You see an irregular or rough texture on your chewing surfaces or the sides of your teeth.
- The tooth the crown protects has a toothache.
- If you have any of the above symptoms, call us for an appointment and have your dental examination done.
Replacing a Dental Crown
If the damage to the dental crown is severe, it may need a replacement. Though minor chips or fractures can be repaired with bonding material or other means, since the aim of the crown is to protect your weakened tooth, it is important to keep the restoration intact and strong. If it needs a replacement, our dentist will remove the damaged crown, treat any underlying dental conditions affecting the tooth, and place a new custom-made restoration. We will also help you to address the issue that caused the dental crown to become damaged if needed. For example, we may recommend night guards for patients who suffer from bruxism to protect their new restorations from harm.
