What Can You Eat with Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are a useful facet of dentistry that can restore the appearance of a tooth that has been damaged or cast into disrepair. A relatively lowly invasive procedure, they have the potential to give a patient a restored smile. Below, we look at what can you eat with dental crowns.

However, knowing some of the details about how these crowns can impact your day-to-day activities can make the difference in terms of your recovery process and maintaining your results. This includes the types of food that one can eat.

If you anticipate having dental crown treatment or already have some installed already, take a look at this guide to the kinds of foods you can eat.

The Types of Dental Crowns

Patients are given different types of dental crowns according to the different stages that occur during the implanting process. The general steps that this entails can be described as follows:

Your dentist takes impressions and scans of your teeth to prepare to create implants
A temporary crown is placed to protect your weakened tooth, while a more permanent crown is prepared
The permanent crown is placed on your final visit to the dentist

In general, you should take more care with the types of food that you eat with temporary crowns than with your final crowns. This is due to the fact that the former are much more fragile than the latter.

Foods to Avoid with Temporary Crowns

There are several types of foods that are recommended to avoid when you have your temporary crowns in place. Some of the primary foods to avoid include:

Crunchy Vegetables: Hard vegetables such as raw carrots can be a bit difficult on temporary crowns.
Cold foods: Avoiding extremely cold foods is recommended at this stage of the crown implantation process. This is due to the fact that there could be exposed roots in your mouth if you’ve had multiple teeth removed.
Nuts: Nuts can be too hard and difficult to chew for temporary crowns. Avoiding them at this stage can be beneficial for the overall longevity of your teeth.
Popcorn: Popcorn is considered an especially problematic food due to the fact that this brittle food can get stuck in between one’s teeth and in other areas of the mouth. This has the potential to damage one’s temporary crown.
Steak or tough meat: Steak and other meat that is difficult to chew can also damage your temporary crown.

Foods to Avoid with Permanent Crowns

There are also several types of foods to avoid with Permanent Crowns. Some of the main foods to avoid include the following:

Fizzy drinks: Avoiding cola and other fizzy drinks is considered to be beneficial for the overall health of your dental crowns.
Sticky foods: Caramel and other chewy candies present a double whammy for your dental crowns. High in sugar, these candies also have the potential to dislodge new crowns from their place, thanks to the difficulty that comes with chewing them.
Raisins and other dried fruits: Some dried fruits are overall too sticky and chewy for dental crowns in the long run.
Gum: Gum has the potential to stick to the sides of your crown, which in turn can slowly accumulate bacteria. Consider other types of breath fresheners if you use gum for this purpose.
Ice: Avoid chewing on ice until your crowns have fully bonded with your teeth. Habitually chewing on ice is damaging to your teeth overall anyways and should be avoided if possible.

Helping to Preserve Your Dental Crowns

There are several steps that you can take to attempt to preserve the quality of your dental crowns over time. Following these steps can help you keep your dental crowns high quality for longer.

Quit smoking
Floss regularly
Avoid hard or sticky foods
Rinse your teeth frequently with antibacterial wash
Avoid biting your nails and other irritating or hard objects
Use a mouthguard If you play sports
See your dentist regularly
Consider using a mouthguard if you are prone to teeth-grinding
Avoid opening bottles with your teeth

Overall, your dental crowns are intended to look and function like natural teeth. They perform this function much more concretely if you help them along with a little assistance.

Your Trusted Dentist in Norco

Absolute Family Dentistry is one of the best and most reliable dentists available in Norco. If you’re interested in discussing how to keep your porcelain crown in the best shape possible, then contact us today to schedule a consultation and restore your smile to its best condition.