Silver dental crowns are a common way of protecting damaged teeth for very little money. However, grinding your teeth can be a problem for those with silver dental crowns. Some people find the texture of silver dental crowns to be irritating, and grind their teeth as a result. Regardless of the reason why you grind your teeth, repeated grinding of silver dental crowns can be dangerous. If the crowns are broken down from excessive grinding stress, they can potentially leach mercury into your body. Read on to learn how you can avoid chewing or grinding your dental crowns.
Grinding Night Guard
When people grind their teeth all night long, they tend to continue grinding during the day. Unfortunately, if you're asleep, you don't have much control over whether or not you grind your teeth. In this instance, a night guard is a good idea.
Night guards are designed to encapsulate all of your teeth, protecting them from rubbing against each other if you bite down. This will help to reduce stress and wear and tear on your silver dental crowns if you grind your teeth. The bite guard will also help your jaw to relax in a more open position while you sleep, which can encourage you to stop the grinding completely over time.
Reduce Stress
Stress tends to trigger tooth grinding both when you're awake and asleep. If you're under a great deal of stress, you might catch yourself grinding your teeth when your stress levels are particularly elevated. Reducing the stress you experience can help to stop you from grinding your teeth.
There are many ways you can try and reduce your stress. Meditation and gentle exercises like yoga and tai chi are often recommended, as they focus on breath and the flow of the body. Some people find walks in nature helpful, or simply getting a better night's sleep. Chances are you know yourself best and what's causing your stress. Try to cut down or eliminate that aspect from your life.
Replace With Porcelain Crowns
Lastly, you can always have your silver dental crowns replaced if they bother you. This is an especially good step if the slippery texture of a silver dental crowns feels unnatural in your mouth and causes you to bite down or grind your teeth.
Dentists will gladly replace your crown with a new, porcelain one that more closely mimics the appearance and feel of real teeth. This is a relatively simple process, since most teeth that have previously had crowns won't need to be shaved or drilled down. Your dentist will simply remove the crown and clean any remaining adhesive out of your tooth and then place the new crown with new adhesive over it.
These steps can help you to reduce your risk of grinding your silver dental crowns, or replace them entirely if you're tired of them. Talk to a dentist for additional tips or to have your crowns swapped for porcelain ones.
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