Is self-fixing of permanent dental crown advisable?

Question

Hello doctor,

Earlier this year, I proactively got a root canal and crown placed for one of my back molars. The procedure went fine, but the coronavirus hit before I was able to get the permanent crown installed as a last step. My temporary crown is still in and is functioning fine, and I was able to acquire my permanent crown before entering quarantine (and thus I have it with me).

I have heard oral infections can be dangerous, and I am mostly navigating around avoiding danger, but I am going to get my dental work done which I feel could be dangerous nowadays. I would like to understand how much more likely I am to get an infection or some other serious complication if I end up going without a crown for a couple of months (especially given I have had an endodontic treatment of the relevant tooth). I have dental cement, and I am similarly curious whether doing an at-home cementing of the crown would be protective or dangerous. Kindly suggest.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have gone through your query and can understand your concern.

Firstly, going without a permanent crown but with a temporary crown in place does not cause any serious complications. To make this more clear, I would like to explain the need for a permanent crown after a root canal treatment.

Once the tooth is root canal treated and the infected pulp tissues are removed, the tooth becomes dehydrated and is more prone to fractures or chip-offs and secondary infections if left uncovered. The tooth is ideally shaped and reduced to receive a crown. So going without a crown could actually lead to supra eruption of the opposing tooth. So a root canal-treated tooth has to be covered with some sort of crown to prevent chip-offs, secondary infections, and supra eruption.

Generally, a ceramic or a zirconia crown that can withstand our enormous biting force is installed to protect the underlying tooth. Since the fabrication of such a crown takes time, a temporary or a little less hard crown is installed meanwhile. This can withstand and stay in place for a couple of weeks (depending on the crown and cement material). But if on following certain instructions, you can expect it to come a little extra longer than that (maybe a couple of months). I suggest you do the following-

1. Avoid biting hard and chewy foods. Hard foods can cause the temporary crown to crack and chewy and sticky foods (fruit seeds, nuts, chewing gum, cheesy foods, burgers, etc.) tend to dislodge the crown.

2. Brush gently and skip flossing for that tooth.

3. Keep your permanent crown safe. Probably after a couple of months, let us hope the situation gets fine and you can get it fixed safely.

Please do follow these and let us expect it to come a little longer. Let this pandemic settle and you can get the permanent crown fixed right away.

And it is not advisable to do an at-home permanent crown fixing procedure. Because permanent crowns are strong and are not malleable and adaptable. So if fixed in a very slightly different way could change your bite and can cause jaw issues and tooth pain. Sometimes at the doctor's office, the permanent crowns will be adjusted and refinished a little before fixing to bring a proper and stable bite. So fixing it at home is not a good idea. Just in case, if this temporary crown decements by accident, do not worry. This will not cause serious trouble in the future.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.