Reasons Why Dental Crowns Fall Off and How to Prevent It From Happening

For most people who lose their dental crowns, it happens when they either chew on something which is tough or some form of candy. A crown falling off is a minor dental emergency and may not need immediate attention; however, the first step to take when the crown falls off is contacting a dentist.

Before the mishap happens, there are some things that you can do to protect your crowns from disintegrating. Below are a few reasons why dental crowns fall off and how to deal with it.

When the tooth under the crown decays

You should continue with normal dental hygiene following the placement of a crown. However, not many people follow all of the basic rules of dental hygiene. This long-term neglect eventually leads to the tooth underneath the crown eventually decaying. One place where decay happens a lot is the junction between a tooth that has a crown and your gum line. When this is the cause of the crown falling off, the dentist will have a look at the tooth and see whether it is able to hold a new crown. If not, they will recommend an extraction and implant.

When the dental cement holding the tooth in place is weak

The dentist that carried out the cementing the first time also plays an important role in determining how durable the outcome will be. There are times when too  little cement is used, and with time, it weakens, loosening the crown. In this case, the solution would be to get the dentist to put the crown back in place using fresh cement.

When your diet has too much chewy food

Another cause of serious problems with crowns is when your diet contains too many hard and chewy foods. With time, these chewy foods start loosening the crown. Eventually, the crown will be pulled loose. In such a case, when the food is extremely hard, the crown might even break and then fall off.

Other reasons behind crowns falling off include people who abuse their teeth by using them as tools to open bottles or grinding teeth. In other cases, you may even find that there was insufficient tooth structure for the crown to hold on to, leading to the eventual breakdown of the tooth. The most important thing is to make sure the dentist working on your crowns is a professional, and once crowns are placed, take good care of them.