How Long Do Dental Crowns Last

Dental crowns are an effective and aesthetically pleasing way to fix a tooth that has extensive decay, root canal therapy, or fractures. Dental crowns may last decades with proper care though some factors can affect how long your crown will last.

Below are a few of those factors that can determine how long your crown will last!

• Oral Hygiene: Good oral hygiene may prevent many dental maladies and keep dental restorations in tiptop shape! Keeping your teeth and gums healthy helps to ensure that your dental crown lasts as long as possible since decay can occur under a crown.
• Personal Habits: we do all sorts of things with our teeth that we know we shouldn’t! Chewing on hard candies and ice or using your teeth to open a package or rip off a tag is a great way to break a tooth or a restoration. Additionally, a lot of people clench or grind their teeth at night while they sleep. Clenching or grinding can cause damage to dental restorations. Being fitted for a night guard is a great way to protect your teeth while you sleep. A night guard is a hard plastic dental appliance that fits over the upper teeth and acts as a buffer between the upper and lower jaw protecting the teeth from clenching and grinding (bruxism).
• Material and placement: There are many materials used to fabricate dental crowns. Gold and other base metals are an excellent choice for posterior teeth since they are durable and can withstand a strong bite force; however, they cannot be tinted to match the rest of your teeth whereas crowns made with porcelain or ceramic can be. Porcelain is still a strong material and is very natural looking though it is not as strong as metals. Another option is a hybrid of the two, porcelain fused to metal, which is a great choice that combines the strength of metal with the aesthetics of porcelain. Not all patients are candidates for metal crowns, patients that have metal allergies would not be able to receive a metal crown, but your dentist can help you determine what material is best.

How long do dental crowns last?

Dental crowns can easily last up to 30 years with proper oral hygiene and care. Regular visits to your dentist will make sure that your crown remains in good shape. In some cases, a three-quarter crown is used to restore a tooth and or tooth structure can be saved.

If your crown should come off, that is a sign that something is amiss, and while the crown can be re-cemented, that will only last a short time, and a crown will need replacing.

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