Crown lengthening surgery is used to help keep the gums around a crown healthy.
A patient's gums drape around every tooth in the mouth and the gums protect the tooth and the bone that holds the tooth in the mouth. The top of the gums bond to the surface of the tooth and this bond prevents food from getting stuck between the tooth and gums. The gums need at least two millimeters of tooth to bond to in order for the gums to be effective in preventing food from getting trapped under the gums. A tooth and surrounding bone will develop serious problems if food collects under the gums.
Sometimes a part of a tooth will crack off so that the needed two millimeters for the gums to bond to is not available. Another reason that the needed two millimeters might not be available is when a tooth decays and after cleaning the decay out of the tooth, the dentist finds that there is less than two millimeters of tooth left. A dentist can use crown lengthening to recreate this needed amount of exposed tooth.
The crown lengthening procedure is simple. The patient is numbed and an incision is made around the tooth needing crown lengthening. The gum tissue is gently peeled away from the tooth to show the supporting bone that holds the tooth in place. Now the dentist can see that there is not two millimeters of tooth available for the gums to stick to. The dentist next removes several millimeters of bone around the tooth to expose the tooth that was previously underneath the bone. After the dentist is sure that there is now two millimeters or more of tooth sticking out of the bone, the gums are replaced and stitched carefully back in place.
The gums are allowed to heal over six weeks and a crown can then be constructed on this tooth without the crown stealing the needed two millimeters of tooth for the gums to stick to.
If you are interested in speaking with an Atlanta Dental Group, PC dentist about crown lengthening surgery or if you need crown lengthening surgery done, call 404-874-7428 to make a consultation appointment.