Dental crowns are tooth-shaped caps placed over damaged teeth to restore their shape, size, strength, and appearance. Usually made of ceramic or porcelain and fused metal, a crown protects the weakened tooth underneath and improves its function. 

However, dental crowns should not be considered indestructible. While very durable, dental crowns do require proper care and dental habits to ensure their longevity. Simple adjustments to your daily routines reduce wear and tear, preventing costly crown repairs or replacements. 

If you are considering dental crowns, consult Durango Dental or your local dental clinic to learn more about this restorative process and expectations for optimal results. 

Let’s explore the straightforward eating habits you can adopt to maintain and extend the longevity of your dental crowns. With conscientious dental care and eating, your crowns can last for many years. 

Chew Carefully With Your Back Teeth

You should make a conscious effort to chew food using your premolar and molar teeth, which are the back teeth. Avoid placing too much biting pressure on your newly crowned front teeth. Focus on chewing slowly and gently to chop larger bites into smaller pieces if needed. 

Allowing 9-12 months for the cement beneath your dental crown to fully cure and adhere securely means being patient and deliberate when eating. Chew mindfully with your back teeth first when eating tough or crunchy foods during this initial bonding phase.

Cut Food Into Smaller Pieces

When you first have your dental crowns placed, you should take extra care when eating foods that require biting or tearing for proper chewing. 

Foods such as raw vegetables, bread, steak, jerky, and even fruit should be cut into small pieces prior to chewing. This will allow you to chew the food easily with your back teeth, reducing strain on your new crown. 

Always bring small pieces to your back teeth for chewing carefully. Smaller pieces also reduce the total effort needed to chew and the strain on the cement bonding your crown in place. Following these guidelines will protect your crowns.

Stay Away From Extreme Temperatures

You should avoid exposing your newly crowned teeth to very hot or cold temperatures, especially during the first 24 hours after getting your dental crown placed. This means no drinking ice-cold water or soda, biting into popsicles, or sipping scalding hot coffee or tea. 

Extreme cold can shock the tooth and cause microscopic cracks in the dental crown material or cement seal underneath. Very hot temperatures can also damage the bonding properties of the cement before it fully cures. 

Allow new crowns time to adjust to temperatures by slowly easing into drinking and eating hot and cold foods during the initial bonding period.

Skip Hard Candies And Chewy Treats

You should avoid hard candies, caramels, toffees, licorice, beef jerky, and other very sticky or chewy foods when you have newly placed dental crowns. The hardness of candies can crack the custom-made resin material from which crowns are formed. 

Meanwhile, sticky, chewy foods can accidentally pull crowns right off your teeth. Find safer snacking options like sugar-free mints or gum. And resist the urge to bite into pens or fingernails, which applies biting force in a particular area, leading to crown damage. 

Indulge oral cravings cautiously and always brush immediately after consuming anything sweet or sticky for some time after getting your crowns.

Avoid Opening Things With Your Teeth

You shouldn’t use your teeth to tear open packages, bags, or wrappers. Avoid biting into things like tape strips on boxes. Resist prying lids off containers with your teeth. Using your teeth to grip and tear subjects your dental crowns to concentrated, sideways pressures they are not designed to handle long-term. 

These habits can crack dental crown material or weaken the cement seal, holding crowns in place over time. Instead, use tools like scissors or your hands to open items safely. Protect tooth restorations by changing habits requiring you to clamp down onto objects tightly between your teeth or putting pressure on one tooth.

Maintain A Low-Sugar Diet

You should avoid excessive sugar consumption to protect your dental crowns. Sugary foods and drinks promote acid-producing bacteria growth inside your mouth. This acid eats away at crown cement and causes micro-fractures that allow decay underneath crowns over time. 

Limit sweets like candy, cookies, soda, sports drinks, and desserts to help control plaque bacteria. Read nutrition labels closely and choose options with less added sugar. 

Getting nutrition from fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, and whole grains instead supports your oral health goals. Maintaining an alkaline, low-sugar diet safeguards your crown investment by preventing future dental issues.

Brush Properly After Meals

According to one eminent family dentist from Anchorage, you should brush your teeth gently yet thoroughly after eating to protect your dental crowns. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Tilt your brush at a 45-degree angle towards your gums and brush for two minutes using short back-and-forth strokes. 

Then, apply light pressure to clean all outer, inner, and chewing surfaces of both natural teeth and crowned ones. Take care to brush properly along gumlines where plaque accumulates most. 

Proper post-meal brushing removes decay-causing food debris and bacteria. It sweeps away sugary acids before they penetrate crown cement seals and cause problems underneath. Caring for crowns with diligent daily brushing is essential.

Rinse With Antimicrobial Mouthwash

You should rinse daily with an alcohol-free antimicrobial mouthwash as part of your dental care routine when you have crowns. Mouthwashes contain antiseptic ingredients that reduce plaque bacteria growth between teeth that brushing misses. 

Swish mouthwash thoroughly between teeth top and bottom, allowing at least 60 seconds of contact time before spitting. This disinfecting rinse reaches tiny spaces around crowns that floss can’t access as well, providing a secondary line of bacteria-killing, crown-protecting defense. 

Using mouthwash makes your oral hygiene efforts more effective and comprehensive for the health of both natural and crowned teeth.

See Your Dentist Regularly

Visit your dentist for a professional exam and cleaning every six months when you have dental crowns. Your dentist carefully inspects crowns for proper fit, function, and early signs of underlying issues not visible. 

Flossing and brushing cannot fully prevent plaque accumulation next to crown edges over time. Left untreated, trapped bacteria erodes cement seals, causing tooth pain, infection, and decay, necessitating crown replacement. 

Regular dental visits catch minor problems early before they require redoing crowns. They also remove hardened tartar only a professional scaling can. Do your part at home and get timely professional cleanings so your crowns last their full lifetime.

Final Thoughts

Adjusting a few daily routines and eating habits helps your dental crowns last for many years. Being mindful of how you bite and chew takes the pressure off your new restorations. Limiting sugar and properly caring for your teeth controls plaque bacteria.

Avoiding damaging habits preserves crown integrity. Combined with regular dental visits, healthy lifestyle choices let you smile confidently, knowing your crowns stay securely in place.