If your dentist recommends a dental crown, it’s easy to postpone that appointment. Things happen, work takes priority, or perhaps you just don’t feel any pain now.
But one of the worst moves you can make for your oral health is to wait for a recommended dental crown.
By educating yourself about what a crown is and how you can avoid excessive pain, expensive treatments, and permanent tooth loss by avoiding the delay, you could save yourself a lot of pain.
What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a specially made covering for a tooth that is weak, broken, or decaying. It fully encloses the part of the tooth that is above the gum line. Imagine you’re putting on a helmet for your tooth!
Crowns will restore a natural shape, size, strength, and appearance to a tooth. They can be made with high-quality materials such as porcelain, in order to match the natural teeth.
Why Would You Need a Dental Crown?
There are several important reasons why dentists recommend crowns:
- A Weakened Tooth: A tooth loses structural strength when the decay is extensive or it has a large filling. A crown helps prevent it from cracking.
- The Broken Tooth: Broken teeth have no natural healing ability. The rest is held together by a crown.
- After a Root Canal: Root canal therapy removes infected tissue from inside the tooth. This leaves the tooth weak and brittle, and thus requires a tooth crown for protection.
- Cosmetic Enhancement: Crowns are used to repair misshapen, discolored, or irregular teeth, ensuring a beautiful, uniform smile.
Why You Shouldn’t Postpone a Crown
A broken tooth does not repair itself. This may not cause pain at first, but it continues to get worse at a steady rate.
If you leave a compromised tooth untreated, there are several significant potential problems:
1. The Tooth May Break or Crack Completely
A decayed or large filling damages the tooth, removing support. Whenever you bite into something, you are putting a tremendous amount of pressure on that weak point. If there’s no crown to spread it out evenly, the tooth will break or crack further even with normal pressure.
2. Deepening Tooth Decay
If your dentist suggested a crown for severe decay, it is important not to leave your tooth without it, as the bacteria can flourish. The decay will penetrate further into the dentin and will reach the dentin tubules and eventually the nerve center.
3. Increased Pain and Dental Emergencies
When a toothache becomes a serious infection, or if the tooth cracks close to the nerve, it can turn into a severe, painful condition that can be debilitating. Avoiding treatment makes an appointment a dental emergency.
4. Risk of Needing a Root Canal
Bacteria will infect the pulp in a decayed tooth if the crown is not placed in time. As soon as the nerve is infected, just a crown will no longer be sufficient. A crown cannot be placed without first having a root canal.
5. Irreversible Tooth Loss
If the crack runs down below the gum line or the tooth is broken to the extent that it cannot be repaired, then it cannot be saved. There’s only one thing you can do at this stage: pull the tooth.
6. Shifting Teeth and Bite Misalignment
When a tooth is damaged and crumbles or if it needs to be extracted because it was damaged, the surrounding teeth will begin to move into the space. It leads to an incorrect bite, pain in the jaw, and chewing problems.
7. Higher Financial Costs
Waiting to treat the condition is often not cost-saving. A regular crown is simple. But when a delay causes you to go for a dental implant after the extraction or an emergency appointment or root canal therapy, the total therapy cost is much higher.
What to Expect During Your Dental Crown Treatment
With the professional team that you start your dental crown process with, the process is smooth and simple:
- Evaluation & Preparation: After examining the tooth, your dentist slightly molds it to fit the new crown.
- Custom Impressions: Digital or traditional impressions are taken to create a custom crown with a perfect fit for your bite and tooth shape.
- Temporary Crown Placement: A temporary crown will cover your tooth until your custom porcelain is made.
- Final Placement: When you have your permanent crown, your dentist examines the fit and the color before permanently placing it.
Why Choose Dublin Metro Dental?
If you want to care for your smile, so does an expert. Dublin Metro Dental uses the best in dental technology and years of expertise to create beautiful, comfortable results for restorations.
Dr. Sadineni has more than 28+ years of clinical experience, bringing it to each patient’s smile. She is one of Ohio’s top dentists and offers state-of-the-art restorative, general, and cosmetic services to maintain your natural teeth in healthy and strong condition.
Final Thoughts
The frustration of having to deal with a damaged tooth can be deeply frustrating, but other than that, it doesn’t need to be. A strong, natural-looking porcelain crown Dublin treatment is simple to receive and will help save your mouth for years.
A broken tooth or a bad toothache shouldn’t ruin your life! Make a dental appointment with Dr. Sadineni at Dublin Metro Dental today and keep your healthy smile safe!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long can you delay getting a crown?
It is best to get a crown as soon as your dentist recommends it. Delaying even a few weeks or months gives decay time to spread and increases the risk of a severe tooth fracture.
2. Does getting a dental crown hurt?
No. The procedure is done under local anesthesia, so the area is completely numb. You may feel mild sensitivity for a few days after the appointment, but it quickly subsides.
3. How long do porcelain crowns last?
With proper oral hygiene, regular checkups, and avoiding habits like chewing ice, a high-quality porcelain crown can last anywhere from 10 to 15 years—or even longer.
