How to Repair Your Gold Teeth

Dental gold has the advantage of being the most compatible metal to the teeth. Gold crowns and bridges are usually in the back of the mouth, out of the smile-line; However, with the popularity of celebrities that have gold teeth, it is now used in all areas of the mouth. Gold also has the advantage of being the most durable metal in the mouth. It is the only cemented restoration that can be removed, repaired, then re-cemented. However, this must be done in a dental office, not at home.

Instructions

Recementing a Gold Crown or Bridge

• 1

  Schedule an appointment with your family dentist. Crowns coming uncemented is a common problem. It happens when a crown comes loose, or has a pinhole in it from wear. Saliva get under the crown, and causes the cement to release the hold. Biting into something very sticky is also reason for a crown to come uncemented.

• 2

  Go to the dental appointment that was made. The dentist will look the crown over for openings in the margins -- where the tooth and crown meet at the gum-line. He will also check for perforations in the metal and for decay that may have caused the crown to come off. If there are no abnormalities to address, the doctor will recement the crown.

• 3

  Allow the dentist and his assistant to reattach the crown or bridge, They will do this right at chairside. The assistant will mix the cement and fill the crown, the dentist will seat it and ask you to bite on cotton, while the cement sets. Afterward, the assistant will remove any extra cement.

Repairing a Hole in a Gold Crown or Bridge

• 4

  Make an appointment with your usual dentist. Though less common than recementation of a crown, repairing a perforation will necessitate the crown, or bridge being sent to a laboratory, for it to be soldered and thickened.

• 5

  Allow the dentist to remove the crown, or bridge if it has not come off on it's own. He will do this with the use of a crown puller; a device that fits under the margin of the crown or bridge, with a weight at the opposite end. The dentist gently taps the weight, and the crown or bridge pops off, with no damage to the tooth, crown or bridge.

• 6

  Remain with mouth open, while necessary impressions, are taken for the perforation repair. After the dentist takes the impressions and a bite registration, he or his assistant will fabricate a temporary crown, that will remain in the mouth,until the original gold crown or bridge is returned from the laboratory.

• 7

  Schedule an appointment to return to the dental office and have the crown or bridge recemented.

Remaking a Gold Crown or Bridge

• 8

  Make an appointment with your dentist. If the crown or bridge has come off and it has tooth material inside of it, the fit has been compromised and it may need to be remade.

• 9

  Submit to the anesthetic to numb the teeth, and the drilling with the dental drill to refine the crown or bridge preparation to cover where the tooth breakage or decay was. This may take some time, as the dentist will have to also refine the areas that were already holding the crown or bridge.

• 10

  Allow the dentist to take the necessary dental impression to make the new crown or bridge. This is usually the least-liked part of the appointment. After the impression's, the dentist, or his assistant will make a temporary crown or bridge that will be cemented into place until the lab is finished with the real crown or bridge, and returns it to the dentist.

• 11

  Reschedule an appointment with the front office to return for the completed bridge to be cemented.