Does Preparing a Tooth for a Crown Hurt?

Dental crowns are tooth caps fitting over your tooth if it has been severely weakened by injuries, cavities, or dental work such as endodontic treatment. Various materials like porcelain, ceramic, and metal help make dental crowns.

When seeking dental crowns for a weakened tooth because of the conditions described above, the dentist installs dental crowns in two appointments. This article explains the process of fixing your tooth with tooth caps to restore its strength, size, appearance, and functionality.

How Do Dentists Prepare Your Tooth for a Dental Crown?

The steps leading to your dental crown installation involve procedures that the provider requests for proper restoration. Given below are the steps involved when getting dental crowns.

• Mouth Examination

The Caro dentist examines your mouth to evaluate the tooth needing the crown and the surrounding area. Next, X-rays of your tooth are taken to view the roots of your tooth and the surrounding bone. If you are at risk of dental infections to the tooth’s pulp, the dentist recommends you undergo root canal therapy to eradicate the infection. However, if the condition of your tooth is acceptable, the dentist starts the procedure for tooth preparation.

• Anesthesia

Dentists apply a topical anesthetic over your gums before the preparation. Following the topical anesthetic, you receive an injection into your gums with local anesthesia to ensure you don’t feel any pain. Some dentists might offer oral conscious sedation if you are incredibly anxious about the procedure. You remain awake during the preparatory process feeling drowsy and relaxed.

• Tooth Preparation

To accommodate the restoration, your dentist must remove some tooth structure from the tops and sides. Dentists use special instruments to file your tooth, making it smaller and smoother. This step is essential because if the tooth is not correctly shaped before installing the crown, it affects how it fits over it. An ill-fitting crown can leave you with bite misalignment. Following tooth preparation, the next step depends on the kind of crown you have chosen.

Your dentist takes impressions of the tooth receiving the crown for a dental lab to custom-create the restoration to ensure it fits the space precisely. Afterward, the dentist places a temporary crown over the prepared tooth for protection. Temporary crowns are made from acrylic and are not durable, requiring you to care for them as recommended by the dentist.

After receiving the temporary crown, you can return home, remaining cautious about the temporary placement because it protects the prepared tooth from further damage.

Three weeks later, you revisit the dentist to receive your permanent restoration when the professional starts the procedure by removing the temporary crown.

Your dentist selects a special dental cement suitable for the crown material you receive and the tooth’s location. After applying a uniform layer of cement to your new crown’s interior, the dentist carefully places the restoration over your prepared tooth. After fitting the tooth with the new crown, any excess cement is carefully removed.

Is It Painful Getting a Dental Crown?

Please do not expect pain when getting dental crowns in Caro, MI, because the dentist ensures the procedure is entirely painless by providing you with local anesthesia. In reality, you will likely not feel the local anesthesia injected into your mouth because of the topical anesthetic the dentist applies to your gums before giving you the injection. Therefore the tooth preparation procedure involving filing and shaving of the tooth will likely cause no discomfort.

You might experience mild pain approximately three to four hours after restoring your tooth after the anesthesia wears off. The discomfort lasts for a couple of days and is comfortably manageable using over-the-counter pain relievers. However, if the pain doesn’t subside after a couple of weeks, you should seek advice from your dentist.
 

How Much Is Time Required To Have Your Tooth Fixed?

As mentioned earlier, you must set aside time for two appointments with your dentist. The process of preparing your tooth requires two to four hours, depending on which tooth needs fixing. After the preparation, the dentist advises when to schedule your next appointment to receive the final restoration over it. The second appointment will not require more than a couple of hours to fix your tooth and restore it to its former functionality.

Thumbs Up Dental – Caro providing dental crowns adopt minimally invasive techniques when preparing teeth that need fixing. If your tooth needs restoration with a dental crown, consider scheduling an appointment at our dental clinic in Caro, MI, today to receive your new dental crown in two appointments.