September 23, 2024 | Tri Le Getting a crown put on a weakened, broken, or damaged tooth is a great way to restore appearance and functionality in your smile. Still, natural teeth are always better, and getting a crown is not something you want to get into a habit of doing. So it’s fair to wonder how long you can expect your dental crown to last. If the reason you need one is you don’t take care of your teeth, you may find yourself back in the dentist office for a new crown in just a few years. Still, even with the best oral care, crowns don’t last forever. The general rule of thumb is that crowns last about 10 years, with the typical range of outcomes running from as little as 5 years to as much as 30 years or more, thanks to modern advances in crown technology. Let’s explore the factors that influence where your crown might fall on this scale and signs that it might be time for a crown to be replaced. Factors That Influence Longevity of a Crown Oral Hygiene Consistent, thorough care for your teeth helps them last longer…even when they’re ceramic or porcelain! It’s often said–as we do in our Caring for Teeth guide–that you should brush at least twice per day and floss once per day, as well as schedule regular dental checkups. Twice a day brushing is the general rule because it’s challenging for many people to brush in the middle of the day while away from home. However, the best way to protect your crowns and natural teeth alike is to brush after every meal. The key is to wait roughly 30 minutes before brushing to allow time for saliva to clear away any acid in your mouth generated by eating or drinking. This acid can weaken enamel and brushing too soon can spread it around and take enamel off your teeth. Oral Habits In another overlap with natural teeth, crowns don’t like being treated too roughly. This includes grinding your crowned teeth, using them to open bottles or packages, mindless chewing on pens or the like, and even too frequent dining on hard food like candy and nuts. Because all of these habits will shorten the life of your crowns, you need to take care to avoid them. Use a nightguard if you grind at night, find softer snacks to enjoy, and keep a multi-tool handy. Crown Quality and Material When it comes to lifespan, not all crowns are created equal. The material(s) used in their construction have a significant effect on their durability. Of course, durability is not the only factor to consider in placing a crown–there’s cost, aesthetics, percentage of natural tooth remaining to work with–so we can’t just automatically choose the one that will last the longest. But it is helpful to mention it so you know what to expect as a potential replacement timeline. A 2015 review of medical literature from the preceding 30 years found that gold delivers the most consistently durable results, with a 96% over-10-years survival rate, and a still-impressive 87% and 74% rate over 20 and 30 years, respectively. Gold can be used alone or combined with other metals to reduce cost without reducing strength. Ceramic (porcelain) crowns such as zirconia are very fracture-resistant and can last 15 years or more with proper care, although porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns (PFM) have a slightly better 10-year survival rate than all-ceramic crowns. PFM is a very popular choice among dentists for its combination of durability and natural looks. Composite resin like that used in fillings has advanced dramatically from its early days but is still largely reserved for temporary crowns. This is because the resin is prone to shrinking and developing microcracks where the natural tooth meets the crown. Dentist’s Skills A 2017 study found that most dental impressions achieved through the use of trays filled with putty contained at least one error, over half of them critical. As impressions are needed to make crowns, this makes them prone to premature failure due to improper fit. At Bunker Hill Dentistry, we use tray-free scanner technology to take a digital “impression” that avoids the issues of unset putty, incomplete impressioning, and distorted impressions. Poor tooth preparation is another issue that can crop up if the dentist isn’t careful and proficient. Taking away too much or too little tooth structure, or leaving sharp angles in the preparation can cause fit problems that leave your bite misaligned and shorten the life of the crown. Even the last steps of the crown procedure–placement and bonding–can go wrong. If the dentist misaligns the crown or bonds it improperly, the crown can fail. Technological Advancements Patients who receive crowns today have better odds than ever of having a crown last a long time, thanks to advances in dental technology. For example, Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) that uses digital technology to design and create restorations via 3D printing enables high accuracy in crowns that helps them last longer. Of course, we’ve already mentioned digital intraoral scanners like those we use in our practice, which overcome many of the common challenges to traditional tray-and-putty impressions. And even crown materials like zirconia and lithium disilicate are steps forward, offering improved strength and durability over most other types of materials. Signs Crowns Need Replacing Pain in a crowned tooth, often as the result of tooth decay, is a common indicator that a crown needs to be replaced (and the decay removed). If you can see that a crown is cracked or chipped, or if the crown feels loose, it’s definitely time to make an appointment. Food can find its way into cracks or under a loose crown, trapping it and accelerating tooth decay. Ultimately, a dental exam (and possibly an X-ray) is the best way to know for sure if you need a replacement. Your Options When a Crown Needs Work Replacement isn’t the only recourse for a crown that has an issue; if it’s undamaged, it may be possible to simply recement it in place. A slightly broken crown can even be bonded, in some cases, without requiring replacement. For some patients who received a crown some time ago, a dental onlay–a preformed resin, porcelain, or gold partial crown–may be able to be bonded to the tooth and be sufficient in place of a crown. However, in cases where the tooth under the crown has become too damaged, a crown may no longer be possible. In such cases, an implant or bridge would be the next course of action. Getting Crowns at Bunker Hill Dentistry The best way to get a crown that lasts for many years is to let Bunker Hill Dentistry handle your restoration. With our advanced tech tools and extensive experience, we can restore your teeth to good health and get you back to life without damaged teeth. Learn about getting crowns at BHD Tri LeA practicing dentist since 1987, Dr. Le has been running successful dental practices in Texas with his wife Ann since 1990. A member of the ADA, AACD and AADSM, Dr. Le has also contributed to several leading dental journals.
