A dental crown, whether it’s a permanent crown or temporary crown, is a strong artificial covering that provides protection and restoration to the tooth. However, it’s important to note that having a dental crown doesn’t exempt you from potential dental crown problems. Some complications can arise if you don’t properly care for your metal crowns or new crowns. While some causes of these oral problems may be beyond your control, it’s still crucial to take proper care of your dental crown.
Having permanent crowns or temporary crowns does not mean that you will be free from pain. Pain and discomfort is very common within a few days after you have gotten a dental crown, whether it is for a wisdom tooth or new crowns. After the site has completely healed, you are not supposed to experience pain or dental crown problems anymore.
However, if you start to experience severe pain and discomfort after undergoing a dental crown procedure, no matter the moment, you should contact your dentist.
Before the end of this article, you will get to know some of the dental problems that you might experience after getting permanent crowns or temporary crowns. I will also address common questions on what you can do after seeing such dental problems in the field of dentistry.
Common dental crown problems
1. Sensitivity: tooth sensitivity is very common immediately after the crowning procedure. This usually occur when the anesthesia giving to you during the crowning process have started to wear off. You will start to notice sharp pain on the tooth that just received the crown, when you take hot or cold foods. This simply means the softer inner layer of your tooth is exposed.
This is very common if your tooth enamel is trimmed off before the crown was installed. Tooth sensitivity is a sign that the installed crown did not cover your tooth completely. Maybe the crown was placed too high on your tooth, leaving the lower nerve endings exposed.
Now see what you should do. You have to contact your dentist for proper evaluation, he will know the best way to fix it. He can apply a solution to cover the exposed tooth dentin or he can recommend suitable teeth sensitivity remedy for you.
2. Tooth decay: getting a crown over your tooth is not the final bus stop. The dental crown cannot decay but the remaining part of your tooth can. When you don’t keep up with good oral hygiene after getting a dental crown, you will end up creating more problems for yourself. Plaque and harmful oral bacteria can easily accumulate at the margin between the crown and your tooth.
The remedy is quite simple, you should try to brush and floss at least twice a day. You should also try to avoid eating much of foods that can attract lots of harmful bacteria and plaque to your teeth. Dental crown is quite expensive, so why won’t you take proper care of your teeth in order to avoid decay?
If decay is present underneath a dental crown, brushing and flossing may not be effective in resolving the issue. In such cases, a dentist will need to perform a root canal procedure to remove the decay. This involves removing the crown, clearing out the decay, and creating a new core before reattaching the crown to the affected tooth.
3. Your crown fell off: unlike our natural teeth, dental crown is artificially installed in the mouth. It can fall at anytime, if it’s not properly fitted to your tooth. Use of poor cementing material can also make your crown to fall off. If your crown fell out, you shouldn’t hesitate to talk to your dentist asap.
Your dentist may need to re-cement your dental crown in place or even get a new dental crown for you. The dentist will surely determine the best action to take regarding dental crowns.
4. Loose tooth: in some cases, the cementing material that is used to hold your crown might start to wash away. This might be as a result of constant exposure of the crown to erosive acids due to poor oral hygiene. Washing away of the cementing material, can lead to loose tooth. Harmful bacteria can easily leak into your tooth and cause further damages and decay.
If you notice that your front teeth or upper tooth crown is getting loose, it’s advisable that you contact your dentist as soon as possible. Your dentist can re-cement your crowns. This is especially important if you have recently had a root canal or if you are experiencing any issues with your wisdom tooth.
5. Allergic reaction: in some rare cases, some patients starts to experience allergic reactions after getting a dental crown. Most of the crowning materials are made by mixing different metals together. It’s possible that an allergic reaction due to the mental used for your crown can occur.
However, just like I said earlier, it’s extremely rare but it’s possible. The only thing that you can do to solve this problem is to get a new dental crown made of different material from your dentist.
6. Black coloration along the gum line: this problem is normal, it does not pose any health risk, just that it’s not pleasant to see them. Porcelain-fused-to-metal crown is made by mixing metals and porcelain together. At times the metal is used in the construction of the base of the crown. The dark color of the metal will always be visible at the base of the crown along your gum line.
Having a root canal can be an annoying and unpleasant experience if the crown was placed on your front teeth. The only remedy for this is to visit a dentist and replace your crown with a tooth-colored crown. Tooth-colored crowns, such as ceramic crowns, are specially designed to match the color of your existing natural teeth and ensure a comfortable bite.
7. Cracked crown: although, the dental crown is very strong but in rare cases it can crack. Of all the available crowning materials, porcelain or porcelain- infused metal are more likely to crack. Depending on how deep or serious the damage is, the crown can either be repaired or replaced.
If the damage to the tooth is not significant enough, it can still be repaired using a composite resin. However, if the damages to the front teeth are extensive, then there will be a need to replace the crown.
Final Thoughts
Don’t be deceived by the word “permanent dental crown“. Any of the dental crowning material, including crowns for front teeth, can develop faults. If you experience any problems with your dental crown or tooth, such as the need for a root canal, contact your dentist immediately. These common dental crown problems should not be ignored.
If you experience any pain or discomfort in your front teeth or tooth, your dentist can help you find the suitable solution, such as a root canal, to address the problem.
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