A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap perfectly designed to fit over your natural tooth to restore its strength, size, and appearance. If you are suffering from extensive tooth damage due to dental decay or trauma, a dental crown can be a perfect tooth restoration procedure to fortify your tooth. The dental crowns will be placed over the damaged tooth to give it the much-needed strength.
The dental crown procedure is necessary in several dental situations to protect a weak tooth, to restore the appearance of a chipped or broken tooth, to make a cosmetic alteration, to cover a dental implant, or even to hold a dental bridge in place.
Normally, a dental crown should last about a decade. However, with proper oral care, a dental crown can serve some patients for as long as 25 years. Fortunately, dental crowns do not require any special oral care aside from observing good and proper dental care practices like brushing and flossing at least twice daily, caring for your dental crown is very easy.
Aside from regular brushing and flossing, much of these proper oral care practices have to do with the foods and drinks that are being consumed after the dental crown procedure. Here is a list of diets to avoid with a dental crown in place:
Before you leave the dental office after the first visit, your emergency dentist would bond a temporary dental crown on your tooth using temporary cement. Hence, the temporary crown is not as strong as the permanent crown. The temporary dental crown protects the repaired tooth, prevents bacteria from infecting the tooth, and prevents sensitivity. Temporary crowns are bonded into place with temporary cement.
With the temporary dental crown, it is very important to avoid taking anything crunchy or very sticky. This is to prevent dental crowns from pulling off or breaking under high force. More so, you may choose to return to your normal diet after the anesthesia is worn off.
A few days after the procedure, your repaired tooth and gum may still be tender, and sometimes it is better for you to stick to a softer diet.
Don’t let damaged teeth hold you back. Book your dental crowns appointment now!
Foods and Drinks to Avoid with Temporary Crowns
With the temporary dental crown, the following few precautions should be taken:
- Avoid chewy or sticky foods, such as caramel, taffy, and gum. These foods can grab and pull out the crown.
- Avoid chewing hard foods, such as granola, hard candy, and ice. These goods can break off or dislodge the crown.
- Avoid foods that are extremely cold or hot
- Avoid tough foods like hard bread or steak.
It is also advisable that you chew less on the affected mouth part but chew more with the opposite side of your mouth. This will reduce the possibility of dislodgement or damage to the dental crown. More so, when flossing, slide out the flossing material instead of lifting it out. You may mistakenly pull off the temporary crown when lifting the floss out.
Once you receive the permanent crown, it is important for you to avoid sticky diets for the first 24hours. After then, you may return to your normal diets and oral practices.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid with Permanent Crowns
When you receive your permanent dental crown, you will have fewer dietary restrictions. Nonetheless, there are still a few diets to avoid, which include:
- Hard or crunchy foods like pretzels, seeds, or nuts. These types of foods can break or chip your dental restoration.
- Sticky foods like steak and candies. These foods can pull off or potentially dislodge your dental crown. More so, be mindful of your dental crown when choosing snacks.
- Popcorn and nuts. Biting down on nuts or accidentally on an uncooked popcorn kernel can be harmful to your dental crown.
- If you’re the type that likes chewing on ice, it is important that you stop as this can cause damage to your dental crown.
- Raw vegetables. It is advisable to eat cooked vegetables and not raw vegetables. Cooked vegetables are softer and will not harm or damage your dental restoration.
Other Tips to Preserve Your Permanent Crown
In addition to the diets to avoid above, there are some certain lifestyles and behaviors to choose or avoid if you have a dental crown, these include:
- Using your teeth as tools: never use your teeth as tools, they are never one. Try as much as possible not to use your teeth to open packages, bite your fingernails, tear off tags from clothing, and open crown corks. Doing these can damage both your natural teeth and dental crowns.
- Brushing and flossing regularly: dental crowns do not require special oral care. They can be cared for just like your natural teeth. Therefore, brushing and flossing at least twice a day with a soft-bristled brush and non-abrasive fluoride toothpaste can make your dental crown last longer.
- Schedule a regular appointment (or at least every six months) with your dentist for dental cleanings and check-ups: This practice is important whether you have a dental crown or not.
- Avoid dark-colored foods and drinks: most dental crowns are made from high-grade porcelain that is resistant to discoloration and staining. However, porcelain crowns can take on a slightly different color at their edges over time due to the consumption of dark-colored foods and drinks. Contrariwise, the dark-colored foods and drinks may change the shade of your natural teeth causing them to look darker or yellowish than the dental crown.
By carefully following the above guidelines, you would be protecting your dental crown and preserving your investment.
Patients with stained, discolored, damaged, broken, or decayed teeth can benefit from our dental crowns Houston practice. We offer professional dental crown procedures to cover, strengthen, and reinforce your affected tooth.
Although dental crowns in Houston are durable, they are susceptible to chipping or breakage. Here at Edge Dental Houston, our qualified team of dentists will discuss with you the kind of foods to choose or to avoid so as to protect your dental crowns and overall oral health. Contact Edge Dental Houston today.
