Your New Dental Crown: How to Prevent Further Decay

It's going to feel so good when your new dental crown has been fitted. The damage to your tooth is safely contained beneath the porcelain crown, halting deterioration and making the tooth look brand new. Although the tooth has been reinforced with the addition of the robust crown, it doesn't mean it's totally immune from further damage.

A Protective Shell

The crown itself is made of porcelain (or porcelain fused onto a metal foundation), and so it can't decay like the natural enamel and dentin that makes up a natural tooth. The crown itself is incredibly strong, but remember that it's a protective shell, and there's still a natural tooth beneath that shell. But how can a tooth protected by a crown deteriorate?

Clean the Crown

You still need to clean a porcelain crown, but this shouldn't come as a surprise. You just brush it along with the rest of your teeth, and so it's not exactly complicated. While the crown covers the entire visible portion of the tooth, the physical dimensions of the crown should be taken into consideration.

The Margin

It's unlikely that you'll be able to see it (since it will be concealed by your gums), but there's a small margin at the base of a dental crown, where the crown effectively ends and gives way to the natural tooth structure underneath it. Plaque and potentially harmful bacterial biofilm can affect your tooth at this margin, eventually damaging the tooth's structure beneath the crown. Flossing can help you to clean this area, but some people with dental crowns might be hesitant to floss around their crowns.Good job. Good web content should be clear, scannable, and easy to follow. There were minor, scattered issues in this piece that affected its readability. In the future, remember to adhere to the principles of good web writing found in the WD Style Guide and other sources like the Yahoo! Style Guide.

Flossing

You shouldn't think that the pressure associated with flossing will detach your crown. It's not going to simply pop off your tooth, since your dentist has bonded it securely into position. Flossing around the margin of your dental crown will help it last longer. You can safely floss it as you would a natural tooth. Still, not everyone flosses, with some studies showing that only 5% of Australians regularly floss. 

Alternatives

If you don't floss, you need to start introducing this into your oral care routine, which becomes a more important part of your dental care at home once a crown has been fitted. There are alternatives if you find flossing a bit difficult. A floss threader allows more precision, or you could invest in a water flosser, which replaces physical floss with a concentrated jet of water (achieving the same purpose).

Your crown won't decay, but the tooth beneath it still can, which is why you need to pay particular attention to the base of the crown, preventing contaminants from breaching the crown's protective shell. Talk to a dentist to learn more.