Common Dental Crown Issues Worth Fixing

When you have a broken, weak, diseased, or hypersensitive tooth, the mere thought of reinforcing that tooth with a crown may bring a sense of relief. Dental crowns offer multiple benefits, from protecting a compromised tooth against further damage to brightening a discolored smile. However, they can also present issues of their own.



If a dental crown has started causing problems, you need to understand why that problem has occurred, what it might mean for your quality of life, and what solutions your dentist can provide to get your crown looking and working as it should again. Take a look at some common dental crown issues you'll want to get fixed.

Loose or Detached Crowns

Dentists attach permanent crowns to teeth with an especially strong cement. However, many people receive a temporary crown while waiting for a permanent crown to come back from the dental lab. Since the temporary crown will only remain in your mouth for a few weeks, a weaker adhesive holds it in place.

If your temporary crown comes loose or falls out, you can call the dental office for an appointment or reattach it with a dentist-approved dental cement from your local pharmacy. The dentist might also provide you with this cement at the office. This same product can serve as a stopgap for a detached permanent crown until you can have your dentist perform a professional reattachment.

Pain When Biting or Chewing

If you had a dental crown attached as part of a treatment for a painful tooth, you may feel understandably frustrated and alarmed to experience pain from the new crown. In some cases, the crown may simply need some additional adjustment so that it fits your mouth perfectly. Your dentist can make these adjustments easily.

An older crown that has started to hurt may indicate a problem with the tooth underneath it. Since crowns only extend to the gum line, they don't protect every part of the tooth against bacteria. If your crowned tooth gets decayed or infected, you may feel pain whenever you bite, chew, or expose the tooth to extreme temperatures.

Teeth that undergo root canal therapy typically receive crowns to cover the gap created by the treatment. If the crown material cracks or breaks, the opening to the tooth may suffer exposure to air, heat, cold, or bacteria. Your dentist can eliminate these pain triggers by replacing the damaged crown.

Color Matching Problems

Not all crown problems involve pain or damage. Ideally, a dental crown should restore your smile as discreetly as possible by matching the surrounding teeth in size, shape, and color. Unfortunately, color-matching problems can make a crown stand out. This issue can even affect a crown that initially looked undetectable.

Stains can cause a color mismatch between crowns and teeth. Even though porcelain crowns resist stains quite well, they can grow discolored and require professional polishing. Your own teeth may also have changed color while your crown did not. In that case, professional whitening might restore your smile's color consistency.

The materials used in the creation of your crown can also affect the color. If your crown uses porcelain fused to a metal base, for instance, the gray color of the metal can peek through the crown, creating discoloration at the gum line. Ask your cosmetic dentist about replacing that porcelain-fused-to-metal crown with an all-porcelain crown.

When you need help with one or more dental crowns, turn to the experts at Doctors Davis & Beyer Dental Health Professionals. We can evaluate the nature of the problem and then modify or even replace that troublesome restoration so you can get back to enjoying your everyday life. Contact our office today to get started.