Have you ever bit into a sticky piece of candy only to find out that the candy grabbed the crown that your dentist just put on your tooth?

If so, you’re not alone!  Many people lose crowns from their teeth.  A crown that fell off is a common “emergency” that we see at the dental school.

You may be curious why your crown fell off.  To satisfy your curiosity, I’ve written this article to let you know about some of the reasons that crowns fall off teeth.

Six Reasons Why Your Crown Fell Off

1 – The tooth underneath the crown got decayed. Many people think that when they get a crown, their tooth is bulletproof.  Crowned teeth can get cavities!  The cavities usually occur right at the junction of the crown and the tooth along the gum-line.  In this case, your dentist will evaluate the tooth to see if it is able to hold a new crownyou will most likely need a new crown made

2 – The cement holding the crown on wasn’t strong enough. This could be due to contamination of the cement while it was being prepared or any number of other reasons.  If this is the case, your dentist can usually re-cement the crown back ont your tooth.

3 – You ate too many chewy foods. As you can see in the picture above, one jelly belly was all it took for Bev Sykes’ crown to fall off of her tooth!  Over time, sticky foods can gradually work a crown loose.  When the crown is pulled off by sticky food, it can usually be re-cemented onto the tooth.

4 – The crown broke. In some instances, due to lots of force, the crown can break and fall off the tooth.  Sometimes a crown can gradually form a crack that eventually loosens the crown’s seal with the tooth and knocks it loose.

5 – You abused your crown. Maybe you used your teeth as tools, or you ended up putting unnatural stresses on the crown by grinding your teeth.   In any case, when you subject your crown to unnatural forces, you stress the bond that holds the crown to the tooth.

6 – There wasn’t enough tooth structure to hold onto the crown. Sometimes the teeth are so short that when dentists prepare them for a crown, there’s not much tooth left for the crown to “grab on to” when it is finally in place.  This is more common in back teeth that have been worn down over years of use and are short.

Conclusion

There they are!  If your crown fell off, it was most likely due to one of the reasons mentioned above.  It is always best to go see your dentist when a crown falls off.  If you can’t make it to your dentist in a timely manner, they may recommend that you pick up some temporary crown cement from your local pharmacy to hold the crown on until you can be seen at the dental office.

Do you have any questions about crowns and why they fall off?  I’d love to hear any questions or comments you may have in the comments section below.  Thanks for reading!