Dental emergencies and same-day crowns often go hand in hand. Although not all dental emergencies lead to the placement of a dental crown, many dental issues are successfully resolved by affixing a dental crown to the top of a damaged or faulty tooth.
Does your current condition constitute a dental emergency?
To help you determine if it is time to call your dentist for an emergency appointment, we have covered what exactly a dental emergency is and when that emergency will most likely lead to the placement of a dental crown.
What Constitutes a Dental Emergency?
Knowing when to go to the dentist for emergency services can be difficult. Many people are hesitant to call a cracked or broken tooth or dental pain a true emergency. Fortunately, knowing when to visit the dentist for emergency services is not as difficult as it might initially seem. If there is undue pain, swelling, or damage, it is time to schedule an emergency visit with your dentist.
Pain
Pain can be caused by any number of tooth ailments. Damage to the tooth structure, decay, gum disease, and more can lead to pain in or around the tooth. When pain becomes unbearable, persists for longer than a few seconds, or is impairing your quality of life or ability to function, that pain warrants an emergency visit to the dental office.
Swelling
Swelling is virtually always a cause for immediate dental care. Swelling unanimously indicates the presence of inflammation in the body. Inflammation can be caused by infection, trauma, an abscess and can even indicate a dangerous condition like oral cancer. Swelling is one of the body’s most telling warning signs and should never go unaddressed.
Damage to the Teeth
Damage to the teeth is another instance in which dental practices urge patients to come in for emergency services. Damage can be small, such as a chip or small crack, or can be more substantial, including the loss of natural teeth. Damage to the teeth and gums is best addressed immediately and warrants emergency dental intervention.
Tooth Crowns and Building Up
Tooth crowns are one of the most common types of emergency dental services. Crowns may be placed over the top of a tooth that has received root canal therapy. They may be used as a sort of replacement tooth when natural teeth are too damaged to use without aid.
What Is a Tooth Crown?
Traditional crowns have been made of porcelain, composite material, and metal. These crowns have taken a great deal of time to fabricate and require a temporary crown to be placed until a better-fitting, more detailed crown can be created. Dental crowns are essentially caps designed to cover teeth that are too damaged, small, or decayed to function successfully without help.
Unlike dental implants, veneers, or dental bridges, dental crowns are placed over the top of teeth and are not used when teeth are missing altogether. Crowns are protective devices. They prevent a damaged tooth from sustaining further harm.
Why Is Building Up Necessary?
Building up is not always necessary. Building up is used when a tooth is not strong or large enough to bond successfully to a dental crown. Building up is completed in the dental office before the crown is placed and is a same-day procedure, even if state-of-the-art CERECⓇ technology is not being used.
The building up process is primarily used when teeth are too small or weak to bond successfully to a crown, but not so small and damaged that posts are required to anchor the crown. It is essentially the “middle ground” between an easily-placed and a complicated dental crown.
Same-Day Crowns
Same-day crowns, also known as CERECⓇ same-day crowns, are created using a unique technology that takes digital impressions and constructs a viable porcelain crown in a single visit. In the past, and with lesser technologies, crowns have required at least two visits to be placed. With the CAD/CAM technology associated with CERECⓇ, crown placement can be evaluated, prepped, created, and placed within a single dental visit.
What To Expect
When having an emergency dental crown placed, you can expect to receive a numbing treatment, have molds or digital impressions of your teeth taken, and have the porcelain crown placed and bonded to the existing tooth.
Emergency Root Canal Treatment
Root canal treatments are the most common reasons for dental crown placement. Teeth that are cracked, damaged, or in another way impaired can also be candidates for dental crowns, but this is typically less common.
Building Up Procedure
If your tooth is damaged, missing pieces, or heavily decayed, you may need a building up procedure. The building up procedure involves applying a resin material to the tooth, in order to effectively “build” a tooth-like structure. This structure is then used to place the crown with an adequate amount of bonding and acts as a solid foundation.
Affixing the Crown
Affixing the crown can come after the building up procedure, root canal, or other treatment has taken place. The crown will be fitted using molds or digital images, and then it will be bonded to the tooth that has sustained damage. Once the crown is affixed, it will be set for 20-30 minutes.
Emergency Dentistry and Same-Day Crowns in Hermitage, TN
If you are experiencing pain, swelling, or other symptoms of a dental emergency, reach out to our dental practice. We offer same-day crowns in Hermitage, TN, and we believe in making dental procedures as comfortable as possible for our patients. With sedation dentistry options and a luxurious dental office, we go out of our way to make sure all of our patients regard dentistry positively and without any real fear or anxiety.
To take advantage of the emergency services we offer and the dental crown technology we currently have available, schedule your appointment today.
