Are you weak? Because if you are weak, you might need a crown. That sounds silly, but we do have a point. While some royal crowns are covered with gold and jewels and are given to people who are victorious in battle and win over the country, our crowns are different. While our crowns aren’t inlaid with a big egg-shaped diamond, they are still important. We use crowns to protect your teeth. This is especially important as we get older, and our mouth ages. In fact, if you are 50 or older, 40% of people your age have at least one crown. Let BayView Dental tell you about crowns and how they work to protect your teeth.
Do You Need a Crown?
There are lots of reasons why you or one of your teeth might need a crown. Crowns protect teeth that are weakened. They are porcelain, and usually, the porcelain sits on top of a metal cap placed over your tooth for added strength. You might need a crown if you have taken a blow to the mouth from an accident or an injury. Sometimes, that weakens your teeth. If you are playing basketball without a mouthguard, and you get hit with a basketball, you might weaken one or more of your teeth. Crowns help protect them.
You might also need a crown over one of your teeth because you clench them or grind them at night. This is called bruxism. You might weaken a tooth because you clench or grind your teeth, and a crown can protect them as well.
The most common reason people need crowns on their teeth is because of tooth decay. Tooth decay can damage a tooth to the point it becomes weak and will break or crack. Tooth decay is caused by bacteria boring a hole through your tooth enamel. Over time, this hole continues to grow until it can grow into the tooth pulp. When we have to fix a tooth with a large cavity, or hole, caused by tooth decay, we sometimes have to put a crown over the tooth. The tooth has become too weak to stand on its own. Also, any sort of tooth decay in a tooth from years ago might have weakened the tooth. As you get older, you can break or crack that weakened tooth when you bite down on something. Sometimes, adults in midlife or older can break or crack a tooth without knowing how it happened.
How Is A Crown Fitted?
A crown can be fitted to your mouth very easily. We sometimes use a temporary crown to cover your tooth that has broken to protect it from further damage. We will make an impression of your tooth before we crown it, so we can make the protective cover. When your new crown is ready, we will grind your tooth down a bit, and put the new crown on. It’s as simple as that. If we have to fill your tooth because of a large cavity, we would do that first, then place the crown over the filling. Do you have questions about crowns? Give BayView Dental a call at one of our 7 convenient locations now!
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