5 Reasons Why Some Teeth Need Dental Crowns
There are many reasons why your dentist might recommend a dental crown. Some of the most common include:
To preserve and protect a damaged tooth from further decay before it is too far gone to save with other methods.
To address problems caused by chewing, like damage or alignment issues that cannot be fixed using other means.
Remember the tooth needs a dental crown when the enamel no longer performs its function.
Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body and it’s designed to withstand everything that our teeth undergo.
Sadly, however, Enamel is not invincible. Enamel is susceptible to cracking, acid erosion, and decay (cavities). All of these can lead to the need for a crown.
Main reasons that a tooth may need a Dental Crown.
– #1 – To Fix Large Cavities
Large cavities require more dental filling material than what can be safely and effectively placed within the tooth. As a result, your dentist may recommend that you get a dental crown to cover the tooth and protect it from further decay.
Cavities are bacterial infections of the enamel and other hard substances that make up each tooth. Bacteria eat sugar and produce acid, which can dissolve enamel and allow the bacteria to penetrate a tooth.
As a cavity grows, it weakens and undermines the enamel so that it can no longer support healthy chewing function.
Your dentist evaluates the size of a cavity and the amount of remaining healthy tooth structure to determine whether the tooth requires a filling or a dental crown. In many cases, the cavity is so large that what is left of the tooth cannot support a filling and therefore you need a dental crown or implant.
2- LARGE FILLINGS
The presence of an existing bigger filling may necessitate a dental crown on a tooth. While a filling is a wonderful restoration to replace tooth structure lost from decay, it does not add strength to a tooth.
It simply fills the hole. When a filling is large enough and makes up more than 50% of the exposed tooth, a crown may be necessary to prevent further damage.
Rebuilding these teeth and replacing the lost enamel is necessary to prevent more damage and even eventual loss of the tooth itself.
3- Loss of Enamel from Heavy Clenching/Grinding
There are many reasons for this, but the primary reason is that they’re very effective at restoring damaged teeth.
When a tooth is heavily damaged from clenching or grinding, it can lose a significant amount of its enamel.
This leaves the tooth susceptible to further damage and decay. A dental crown covers the entire tooth, protecting it from further damage.
4- Cracked Teeth
While cracks are more likely to develop on teeth that have large fillings, they can occur in otherwise healthy teeth as well.
Cracks are common in the back molars of people who clench or grind their teeth at night. They may also result from an injury, such as biting into a hard, foreign object.
When a tooth cracks, the interruption in enamel allows both temperature sensations and bacteria to penetrate the tooth.
5- Root Canal Treatment
Then finally, a tooth that undergoes a root canal treatment usually needs full coverage with a dental crown.
This is because root canal treatments remove the nerves and blood supply from the hollow chamber inside a tooth.
Without a blood supply, teeth become brittle and very easy to break. Because they also have no nerve within, teeth with root canal treatments will not experience the symptoms of a cracked tooth, so patients often miss the warning signs of a problem.
A crown covering the tooth is necessary to prevent its breakage after a root canal treatment.
If you are in the need of a dental crown for any reason, contact us today and setup a dental appointment.
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Thank you for explaining that crowns can be used for cracked teeth. I never thought about how cracks might form if you grind your teeth at night. I wonder if this is the reason my dentist told me I’ll be needing a crown for one of my molars.