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How to Maintain Your Dental Crowns

Dental crowns protect and strengthen teeth that have been damaged. Dental crowns also cover cosmetic damage, making your smile beautiful after an injury. When you get a dental crown, your dentist in Lyndhurst, OH can tell you about how you can maintain the crown to ensure it will last a long time. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Brush Your Teeth

Maintaining good oral hygiene is one of the first steps to maintaining your dental crowns. Brushing your teeth twice daily with a soft bristle toothbrush is key to keeping your teeth clean and gums healthy.

Use non-abrasive toothpaste when brushing your dental crown. Abrasive toothpaste can scratch the crown and cause damage over time. If you’re not sure which type of toothpaste is best for your teeth, ask your dentist. The dental professionals at Lyndhurst Family Dental would be happy to recommend an appropriate toothpaste.

2. See the Dentist Regularly

See your dentist at Lyndhurst Family Dental twice per year. During these regular visits, your dentist will clean your teeth and check for problems like periodontal disease and gum recession.

Gum recession exposes the tooth root and can put your tooth at risk of decay. Decay can put your dental crown at risk. Seeing the dentist can catch these problems in the early stages, which in turn can help protect your dental crown.

3. Don’t Whiten Your Teeth

If you have a porcelain crown, your dentist will match the crown to the color of your other teeth. Dental crowns aren’t affected by teeth whitening. If you choose to whiten your teeth, your dental crown will stay the same color, and your other teeth will be slightly lighter. If you have dental crowns, it’s best not to whiten your teeth, to maintain a consistent color.

4. Don’t Chew Non-Food Items

Dental crowns can be chipped by non-food items like pen caps and ice. If you have a dental crown, don’t chew on anything that isn’t food.

Do you have questions about how to maintain your dental crowns in Lyndhurst, OH? If so, ask your dentist at Lyndhurst Family Dental. We’re happy to help!

5 Things To Know About Dental Crowns

A dental crown is a cap that protects tooth enamel. It is an important tool your dentist can use to restore a tooth or hide cosmetic damage.

Many people have dental crowns. Dental crowns may be a good option if you have damaged teeth or would like to hide a cosmetic defect in your tooth enamel. Your dentist in Lyndhurst, OH, will help you decide. Below are five things to know about dental crowns.

1. Dental crowns can look just like natural teeth.

Dental crowns are shaped just like natural teeth. When you’re fitted for a dental crown, your dentist will make an impression of your teeth to send to a lab.

The lab will then use the impression to make a crown that fits the available space. The crown will have a natural shape and, depending on the material it’s made from, can also be colored just like your other teeth.

2. Dental crowns made from metal last the longest.

Dental crowns can be made from porcelain, metal, or resin. Dental crowns that are made from metal last the longest. Metal crowns don’t look as natural as resin or porcelain crowns, so you’ll have to decide what’s important to you when you’re choosing a material for your crown.

3. Dental crowns are easy to maintain.

Dental crowns need to be brushed twice daily and flossed once daily, just like regular teeth. When brushing your crown, use a soft-bristle toothbrush and non-abrasive toothpaste. This will prevent your crown from becoming scratched and prolong its service life.

4. Dental crowns can’t be whitened.

Dental whitening doesn’t work on tooth-colored crowns. If you whiten your teeth, your natural teeth will become whiter, and your dental crown will not, which could lead to a color mismatch in your mouth.

5. You’ll get a dental crown if you get a root canal.

Root canals weaken teeth. If you get a root canal, you’ll need a dental crown to protect the remaining tooth enamel. This will help you keep the tooth and avoid an extraction.

Think you need a dental crown in Lyndhurst, OH? Call today to make an appointment.