Crowns are a simple way to give relief to more serious tooth problems. Crowns are made of synthetic material, used as caps. If you are wondering about their appearance, they look and feel like porcelain but are not. They are stuck on with adhesive on top of a tooth, so they fit on the tooth like a crown on a head. If your tooth is past repair (damaged from trauma, gum disease, or decay), you have gone through a root canal, etc. and you need to improve your remaining teeth set’s function, you can count on a crown. Crowns are multipurpose — they can even just be used for aesthetic reasons like a stained tooth, or for more serious work like attaching bridges, covering implants, or preventing cracked teeth from getting worse. If your present filling is wobbly and might be dislocated, crowns are an option for you.
If you were in doubt before about the longevity of a crown, you should know that they can last about eight years, or even longer. Of course, keep up with your dental hygiene by flossing but even more so because the crown could get excess plaque build-up. However, up-and-down flossing could dislodge the temporary crown (not the permanent crown) so please floss side to side in that case. The crown is not impenetrable, so do not clench your jaw, grind your teeth, or have brittle foods too often since they can alter the adhesive’s effectiveness or the crown’s surface itself. Wear a mouth guard if you know that you grind or clench your jaw often.
