If you need a root canal or if you have broken any teeth, your dentist will likely place a dental crown. Crowns are used to rebuild teeth and to provide a protective barrier over a tooth that has been damaged in some way. Permanent crowns are cemented in place and most are made from ceramic materials. It can take about two weeks for the permanent crown to be created, and you will need to wear a temporary crown in the meantime. You may wonder why a temporary crown is required, since the tooth will soon be capped with a porcelain device. Keep reading to learn a few reasons why.

Dentin Is Exposed To Acids

If you have broken a tooth, then it is very likely that the tooth dentin was exposed after the injury. Dentin is also exposed during the crown process where your tooth is prepared to receive your dental crown. This preparation involves the removal of tooth enamel. As enamel is removed, space is opened around the tooth so the crown can sit flush. The most enamel must be removed from the biting edge. In some cases, about one to one and a half millimeters of the enamel is ground away. While not all the enamel is removed, in some areas most will be removed and the bare tooth dentin will be uncovered. 

Dentin is sensitive and you will feel a great deal of pain if it comes into contact with cold and hot foods. Sharp pains are most likely and can be intolerable. To reduce these sensations, the tooth is covered. However, covering is not only meant to reduce your discomfort, it also stops acids from coming into contact with your tooth. Acids are present in food items like coffee and citrus fruits, and they are produced by oral bacteria too. Dentin is porous and soft, unlike enamel, and these acids can cause erosion and decay quickly. In other words, you can develop cavities in a short period of time if your prepared tooth is left exposed. 

Acids and bacteria can even reach the pulp chamber of the tooth if you have not gone through endodontic therapy yet. This means that an infection can develop as you wait for your new crown to be created. Additional treatments, like a root canal, will be required and it will take even longer for you to receive your permanent crown.

The Teeth Can Shift 

Your teeth are exposed to a great deal of pressure on a daily basis. Total bite pressure is as high as 5,600 pounds per square inch, and this pressure is exerted in all directions as you clench, bite, and chew. As pressure is exerted in all directions, the teeth can shift. In fact, the teeth move quite substantially as you age, not only due to the pressure on the teeth, but because the dental arches start to shrink as well. This causes the teeth to become more and more crowded. The term for this is aging dentition. 

The teeth obviously do not move all at once, but they do shift minuscule amounts over the course of years. If there is an open space around a tooth though, like when one is prepared for a dental crown, the teeth tend to shift a bit into the open space. If the adjacent teeth move just a fraction of a millimeter closer to the crown tooth, then the created crown will not fit correctly. Depending on the shifting, a new crown may need to be constructed. 

Since the temporary crown will be almost exactly the same size and shape as the newly created porcelain crown, the teeth will be unable to shift and the crown will fit correctly. 

Talk with a dentist from a clinic like Pittsburgh Dental Spa to learn more about dental crown usage.