New porcelain crowns make your smile look better than ever. If you have a new set of teeth that are even and pearly white, you likely want to do everything you can to preserve your smile so it lasts. Whether your smile is now made nearly entirely of dental implants with porcelain crowns, or you just have your teeth capped with porcelain crowns to shape them, you want them to last and your oral health is what is going to do it.
Here are things you can do to take care of your new porcelain crowns. Your dentist has suggestions as well, and you should pay heed. Visit the dentist as recommended for regular X-rays and cleanings.
Avoid teeth whitening toothpaste
Most teeth whitening toothpaste you can buy in your local grocery store or department store are not as healthy for your teeth as you think. They use abrasion to remove stains from the surface of your teeth. These same abrasive additives may remove surface stains from enamel, but with crowns, it will simply scratch and roughen the porcelain. This can cause any stains to just get embedded in your teeth deeper.
Brush your crowns with a gentle foaming toothpaste; your dentist can recommend a brand or type to use. Simply rinse your mouth out with water after consuming a staining liquid or food and visit your dentist for brightening treatments to keep your porcelain crowns nice and white.
Floss daily
Flossing was already important before you got your new crowns. Now that you have these crowns, you want to keep them—and if the tooth they're attached to gets infected or your gums become too infected to care for your teeth, you can lose teeth you spent a lot of money on. Floss daily and you keep your teeth and gums healthy so you can keep more of your original teeth and prevent losing ones you just had restored.
Avoid hard foods
Crunching ice and hard candies can hurt your teeth and crack a normal tooth. They can crack porcelain crowns as well with enough force. Wear a mouth guard when playing impact sports and chew only foods that your dentist approves of, especially if you have weakened enamel in the first place or if your porcelain crowns are still new. This way, you improve your smile and give your smile the best chance of lasting for years to come. Your dentist will give you more pointers for keeping your smile healthy and strong.
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