Detached Dental Crown?
A Burton dentist offers advice about what to do if this happens.
We suspect that many cosmetic dentists have encountered patients who have attempted some dental DIY, with one of the most common attempts being the restoration of a detached crown. Whilst dental crowns are made to precision fit a prepared tooth, and are attached using a very strong dental cement, they do, from time to time, become detached. Generally speaking, this occurs either through ‘aggressive’ use of that tooth when biting over a period of time, or, when the crown has been attached for many years and the cement starts to lose its bonding abilities.
What not to do
Unfortunately, when patients attempt to restore the crown themselves, they often use a high strength glue. This is not a good idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, these glues often contain chemicals which can damage the porcelain or ceramic crown itself. If this occurs, the crown may be rendered useless and have to be replaced.
Secondly, accurate replacement is next to impossible to do yourself and with high strength glue, there is often little flexibility to correct this. The bonding abilities of these glues also means that when you eventually visit our Burton cosmetic dentist to have the crown placed correctly, they are extremely difficult to remove. Finally, if replaced yourself, bacteria may be trapped underneath the crown and this will result in dental decay to the natural underlying tooth and may result in toothache or even loss. This is then likely to mean that a new crown will need to be made to fit your newly reshaped tooth or an implant placed should you lose it.
What to do
So, what advice do we offer at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice should your crown become detached? Firstly, if you are in or around Burton when it happens, call our dental practice straight away. We will do all that we can to see you quickly and re-attach the crown to keep it in good condition and with less inconvenience to yourself.
If you are away from home when it happens; perhaps on holiday, there are three choices open to you.
- If it is not overly inconvenient to you, keep the crown in a safe place and wait until you get home to contact us
- Find a local dentist to do this for you. There may be charges for this and, depending where in the world you are, the standard of dental care may vary
- If you are going away, keep a dental repair kit handy. These are available in chemists and use a similar cement to the one that we use in our practice. You should never see this as a permanent solution though and should still arrange a visit to see your Burton dentist upon your return.
For any further help or advice, Mike Allen’s Dental Practice can be contacted by calling us on 01283 845345.