Looking After Your Dental Restorations

How to keep newly treated teeth in good condition.

Generally, we all hope to avoid having any treatment to our teeth. With a bit of luck and some good care, this is possible; though chips, cracks and even breakages can occur due to circumstances completely out of our control. When this happens, the tooth will need to be restored. The restorations that we use at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice will offer strength and longevity providing that patients look after them. In today’s blog, we look at how to take care of some common dental restorations.

Fillings

The most common of all dental restorations, fillings can last for many years but do need to be monitored during your regular check ups. Whilst generally strong, tiny spaces can appear between a filling and the natural tooth and bacteria can collect in these spaces, leading to further decay. It should be noted that this is less likely to happen with white cosmetic fillings as these bond to the teeth, leaving less chance of this happening when compared to traditional amalgam fillings.

Crowns

Porcelain, or ceramic crowns are usually attached to a tooth where there is significant damage, or following a root canal procedure. Although the crown itself will not decay, being made from an artificial material, the rest of your underlying tooth can. So please maintain diligent cleaning around the full area of a newly crowned tooth.

Veneers

Veneers are usually used to cosmetically improve the appearance of a chipped, cracked, or badly stained tooth. With good care, they should last for approximately ten years or more. Like crowns, the porcelain will not decay but the rest of the tooth can. So once again, please make sure to clean all of the tooth. If the natural tooth becomes decayed and has to be filled, your veneer may not fit as securely and may become detached. Avoid biting on fingernails or pencils as this action can, in rare cases, cause the veneer to ‘pop’ away from the tooth. If this does happen, please contact our Burton dental clinic so that one of our dentists can reattach it. Please do not attempt this yourself!

Dental Implants

If you have had a dental implant placed to replace a missing tooth, it is important that you avoid gum infections such as periodontitis and peri-implantitis. Both of these can cause the quality of the jawbone to deteriorate. As dental implants depend on a healthy bone structure for their strength and stability, this could potentially lead to them becoming loose or even failing. Good home care and hygienist cleaning are essential to maintain healthy dental implants over the longer term.

Whatever type of restoration you have, regular monitoring is important. This means that you should see a dentist at Mike Allen’s Dental Practice at least every six months, and more should we recommend it. You can arrange your check up, or any other appointment by calling us on Burton 01283845345.