What to Do When a Crown Falls Out
Dental crowns are useful in protecting damaged teeth, but if something happens and they end up falling out, you’ll need to know how to keep things from worsening. Read on to find out how to manage the situation.
When you lose a tooth, the result is an unsightly gap if it's near the front, or an uncomfortable hole near the rear of your mouth that can make talking and chewing difficult. Additionally, a missing tooth can cause a host of other issues.
At Fresh Dental Care, with three locations in the Houston area, our experienced team helps create the best dental bridge solution to replace missing teeth, restore your smile, and make you feel confident again.
When you lose a tooth, you don’t just end up with a gapped smile. One lost tooth destroys the stability of the entire upper or lower arch of teeth. Just like an arch bridge, in which each stone helps support the ones on either side, your arch of teeth is supported by each individual tooth being braced on either side by the ones next to it.
Once a single tooth is lost, the teeth on either side start to drift. The jawbone where the missing tooth used to be begins to slowly dissolve, because it’s not being stimulated by the tooth root anymore. The teeth on the other side loosen, slide further into the empty gap, and then they, too, fall out. The teeth on the far side of those teeth become unstable, and the chain reaction continues until all of your teeth in that arch fall out.
If you have one or more missing teeth, here’s why to get a dental bridge:
Obviously, if you’re missing a visible tooth, you want to replace it so you don’t have a gap in your smile. For teeth that are missing in front, a type of bridge can be installed that uses bands of porcelain or metal bonded to adjacent teeth to hold the restoration in place and bridge the gap.
Using a bridge to replace one or more missing teeth also restores functionality, making it easier to chew and speak. For back teeth, the most common type of bridge is held in place by crowns on the adjacent teeth, which have a small amount of enamel removed to allow the crown to fit down over their upper surface. The restoration, known as a pontic, connects the two and reaches down to the gumline for an unbroken line of teeth.
Installing a bridge keeps adjacent teeth where they are supposed to be, helping stop them from drifting into an empty gap left by a missing tooth. This is extremely helpful in that it replaces the support needed to keep your entire arch of teeth stable.
You can also opt for a dental implant supported bridge if you are missing one or more teeth. The implant acts like a tooth root, stimulating the bone so it doesn’t dissolve. The pontics look and act just like your original teeth. Implant supported bridges can last much longer than traditional bridges.
Are you ready for a dental bridge? Call the Fresh Dental Care location nearest you and schedule an appointment today.
