Crown lengthening is a procedure which allows your restoring dentist to perform a better job in delivering your final crown(s) or other restorations. Teeth which need crowns or other restorations often are too short to hold the crown on, or have deep decay going below the gumline which cannot be reached.
Oftentimes, when a tooth is prepared for a crown, excess gum or bone causes the tooth in question to be very short in size. In such cases, the final crown may appear too small and often falls off because there is not enough tooth to hold the crown on!
Additionally when a tooth has a cavity or crack going below the gumline, placing a filling or crown into such a deep area can damage the gums and create tender and inflamed gums. This promotes future bone loss and causes a form of gum disease known as periodontitis which can ultimately lead to tooth loss!
This can be a very frustrating situation for you and your dentist. No one likes going back to the dentist office every other month because their crown fell off, or losing a tooth because the work was not done right the first time. Fortunately, this situation can be corrected with a procedure known as crown lengthening.
With a crown lengthening procedure, the gums and bone around the teeth are reshaped to make the tooth longer in size hence the name crown lengthening. With a longer crown, your restoring dentist has more room to make the crown appear more natural and can gain access to deeply decayed areas below the gumline. Additionally, because there is more tooth for the crown to hang on to, the chances of the crown falling off are greatly diminished. All this results in a healthier, more natural, cosmetic result that will last a lifetime!
The procedure typically lasts an hour in most situations and has a quick recovery time. The procedure is accomplished with simple local anesthetic, just like when you get a filling on a tooth. For more information about crown lengthening procedures, please call our team at 970-207-4061 to schedule a consultation appointment, or ask your general dentist for a referral.
