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Pros and Cons of Dental Crowns |
Upon completion of the crown procedure, patients not only have teeth that are good looking, but also their teeth become stronger. Crowns are meant to last. In fact, crowns can last up to a period of 8 years. Patients have to take care of oral hygiene and clean and floss their teeth regularly.
If patients take adequate precautions such as not biting their fingernails or chewing ice, crowns can last even longer.
In case the crown has retained a nerve, then the patient may experience sensitivity to hot and cold foods. Dentists prescribe toothpaste meant for sensitive teeth and gums to reduce the severity of the problem. If the crown is set too high on the tooth, then the patient may experience pain during biting. If that is the case, then the patient should contact the dentist in order to get the problem fixed.
Another problem that may arise in crowns is that the cement that is used to fix crowns may wash off. If this happens, then the teeth may be infected with bacteria and result in tooth decay. If the cement begins to wash off, then there is a danger that the crown may fall off. In that case, contact your dentist to have cement reapplied.
There are advantages and disadvantages of various materials that are used for crowns. Gold is one of the best materials for crowns as fitting gold crowns is easy and it does wear the teeth even after years of use. The only issue with gold crowns is that gold looks unappealing and embarrassing.
On the other hand, crowns made of porcelain look better, but the material is more difficult to fit in between the gums. Porcelain may also require a larger part of the healthy teeth structure to be removed before it can be fitted.
A modification to porcelain crowns is the porcelain fused to metal crowns. This type of crowns removes certain disadvantages of porcelain crowns. |