What Does a Cracked Dental Crown Feel like?

July 1, 2022

Dental crowns are artificial prosthetics placed over your existing teeth to replace the tooth’s visible part over the gum line. Dental crowns are incredibly durable, stain-resistant, and created last for 15 years without needing replacements. After placement over your teeth, dental crowns are removable only by a dental professional.

Dental crowns resemble your teeth because they fit over them as a tooth cap. If you manage to crack your dental crown, the feeling is similar to breaking your natural teeth. You can feel the jagged edges of the crown in your mouth and wonder what you must do in the specific situation. However, your first point of call should be for your dentist to inquire about the actions you can take before you get to the dental practice to restore the dental crown.

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How to Spot a Broken Dental Crown?

If you don’t have parts of the dental crown falling in your hand or on the floor, have a family member check the area or look in the mirror. If the crown is hanging loose or pieces are missing, pull the restoration entirely to ensure you don’t swallow it.

Gently run your tongue over the tooth to check for sharp edges that might cut your tongue or soft tissues in your mouth. If the area is smooth, you are not in an emergency and can wait to see your regular dentist. However, you must schedule an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the underlying tooth.

If you are in mild discomfort, you can find over-the-counter painkillers helpful until you can get to a dental crown in Encinitas to have the broken crown repaired.

What Causes Cracking of a Dental Crown?

Dental crowns can crack for various reasons. For example, you can snap a dental crown from impacts on your mouth when playing sports or falling when cycling. In addition, using your teeth to chew complex objects like pens, pencils, hard foods, teeth grinding, jaw clenching, and using your teeth to open packages can all crack dental crowns. Therefore if you have dental crowns in your mouth, you must exercise caution not to damage the restoration because it exposes the underlying tooth to further damage from bacteria in your mouth.

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What to Do If You Have a Cracked Crown?

As mentioned earlier, you must call your dentist immediately to schedule an appointment to have the dental crown restored or replaced as required. If the crown has suffered extensive damage, you must go through the process of getting a crown from the Encinitas specialist.

Getting a new dental crown requires you to go through the entire process again unless it is merely chipped when the dentist can repair the restoration. However, if the crown is damaged extensively, the dentist recommends you have a new restoration to cover the underlying tooth.

The dental crown process is pretty intensive and requires at least two appointments with your dentist. The dentist might reshape the tooth under local anesthesia to accommodate a new dental crown if the underlying tooth has suffered damage. After that, the impression of the tooth for the dental laboratory to create a new restoration and provide you a temporary crown in the interim.

When the dental lab returns your new crown, you must revisit the dentist in approximately three weeks. The dentist will remove the temporary restoration during the second appointment and check the color and fit of the new crown. Finally, the dentist bonds the new crown over your damaged tooth if all things are acceptable.

When you have dental crowns over your teeth, it is incredibly essential that you care for them appropriately by following the practices suggested by your dentist in Encinitas, CA. It would be best if you refrained from using your teeth for purposes other than eating and chewing foods. If you grind your teeth and clench your jaw, you help yourself using a night guard customized for your mouth by your dentist.

Besides the above, you must maintain excellent dental hygiene by brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing them at least once, and getting regular dental checkups to ensure no plaque buildup has accumulated around the crowned tooth. Caring for dental crowns using the tips suggested helps prevent damaging them and looking for replacements at high prices.

If you have damaged a dental crown and need replacements or repair, Sinclair Smiles provides them in the shortest time possible. Kindly schedule an appointment with the practice to get your crown repaired or restored as soon as possible.

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