Dental Crowns: Three Ways They Can Help You

27 / 10 / 2017

Dental Crowns: Three Ways They Can Help You

Treatments Involving The Use Of A Crown At The Lighthouse Dental Practice

After fillings, dental crowns are one of the most commonly used ways to restore teeth.

Sometimes also referred to as a dental ‘cap’, as they are used, in effect, to ‘cap’ a tooth, they offer a means to restore teeth to a strong and functional state that would not have been possible with a straightforward filling.

In today’s blog, we take a look at three cases where dental crowns are used at our practice.

Broken or badly decayed teeth

Where a tooth breakage occurs that is quite extensive, or where tooth decay has taken hold to the extent that a significant part of the tooth is affected, a dental crown is often the best available option to restore it.

In order to do so, any damaged or infected material will need to be removed, and the tooth will then be prepared into a shape suitable for the crown to be attached to. Once this has been done and the crown returned from the dental laboratory where it was prepared, you will be recalled to the Lighthouse Dental Practice, and the crown attached using a strong dental adhesive.

Root canal

As a root canal procedure often involves the removal of the top part of the infected tooth it is not only weakened, but also leaves the tooth with an unnatural appearance. To offer both additional strength to the restored tooth, and to improve how it looks, a dental crown is usually fitted to the top of the tooth. This also helps to improve its functionality and to provide the tooth with longer life.

Dental implants

Although some people think that the term ‘dental implant’ includes the replacement tooth part of the procedure, this isn’t strictly true. The dental implant itself is the titanium ‘root’ which is placed into the jawbone in order to replicate, as closely as possible, the role of a natural tooth root. Once the implant has bonded strongly with the bone, an abutment is attached to act as a support for a dental crown to be added to complete the procedure.

Aftercare advice

If you have had a dental crown attached at the Lighthouse Dental Practice for any reason, it is important that you remember to keep it clean with regular brushing and flossing. Although it is very unlikely, crowns do, on rare occasions, become detached. In the highly unlikely event that this does happen, please do not attempt to reattach it yourself and instead, call us as soon as possible to have it reattached professionally.

For further information about any of the above procedures, or any other oral health concerns, please call our Ipswich general and cosmetic dental practice on 01473 257379.

We are here to help you.
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.