Month: August 2019

A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap which is placed to cover the tooth or to restore its shape, size, strength and improve appearance.

Why Is a Dental Crown Needed?

• A dental crown is needed-
• To protect a weak tooth
• To restore damaged or broken tooth
• To cover and support a tooth with a large filling
• To hold a dental bridge

What Types of Crowns Are Available?

Permanent crowns can be made from stainless steel, metal (such as gold or another alloy), porcelain-fused-to-metal, resin, ceramic.

Temporary crowns are made dentist’s office whereas permanent crowns are made in a dental laboratory.

What Steps Are Involved in Preparing a Tooth for a Crown?

For crown preparation, 2 dental visits are required.

• Examining and preparing the tooth

In the first visit, the dentist will examine by taking X-rays. They take the impressions of your teeth and send it to a laboratory for permanent crowns.

The dentist will cover the prepared tooth with a temporary crown until the permanent is made.

• Receiving the permanent dental crown

The dentist will remove the temporary crown and cement the permanent crown in place.

• How Should I Care for My Temporary Dental Crown?
• Avoid sticky and chewing hard foods.
• Minimize use of the side of your mouth.
• Slide rather than lifting out dental floss when cleaning.

What Problems Could Develop With a Dental Crown?

• Discomfort or sensitivity
• Chipped or loose crown
• Crown falls off
• Dark line on crowned tooth next to the gum line

What Are “Onlays” and “3/4 Crowns?”

Onlays and 3/4 crowns are variations of dental crowns. They cover the underlying tooth to a lesser extent.

How Long Do Dental Crowns Last?

With good oral care, dental crowns last between five and 15 years.

Does a Crowned Tooth Require Special Care?

The crowned tooth does not require any special care but needs to be protected from decay or gum disease. Brush your teeth twice a day and floss once a day.

How Much Do Crowns Cost?

The cost of crowns depends on the type of crown you select. Gold crowns are more expensive than any other crowns.

If you have a wisdom tooth that causes pain, chances are that you will need to get it extracted at some point. Most people are nervous about tooth extraction. It can be helpful to understand what happens during the extraction procedure, so that you can remain prepared while getting it done.

Wisdom Teeth Removal, Step by Step

These steps will be followed during your wisdom tooth extraction:

• Selection and administration of sedation

Dentist will choose the right sedation option for you. It can be either of oral sedation, nitrous oxide, or IV sedation. The IV is usually considered most comfortable as you remain relaxed and don’t remember anything after the procedure.

• Numbing and imaging

Once the chosen method of sedation begins to show its effects, the dentist begins to numb the wisdom teeth and the surrounding tissues with a local anesthetic.

• Tissue removal

The surgical part begins here, where the dentist removes the gum tissue covering the area where a wisdom tooth is located. If wisdom tooth is impacted, an incision is required to be made in the tissue for accessing the tooth.

• Bone removal

If the wisdom tooth is impacted, a high-speed hand piece can be used to drill and remove the bone covering. If the tooth has erupted, the dentist will loosen the connective tissue from around the wisdom tooth.

• Loosening and sectioning of the tooth

The dentist will then use surgical instruments to loosen the wisdom tooth from connective tissue. He will then cut the tooth into sections for preventing tooth from breaking before removing from the socket.

• Tooth removal

Once the wisdom tooth is loose or sectioned, the dentist will remove it.

• Stitches

If the dentist feels that the patient will heal if the stitches are in place, he may take stitches.

• Recovery

You will slowly recover from the sedation and dentist will give gauze for you to bite down so that blood clots in the area.

After Your Procedure

It’s important to follow the suggestions for recovery given by the dentist, especially for initial 7 to 10 days after the procedure.