Onlay / Crown Placement

Immediately afterwards, you will still be numb from the local anaesthesia and so refrain from eating and drinking in order to avoid trauma injury to your lips, cheek and tongue. 

You should take care for the following 24 hours after the crown has been placed to allow the cement to fully set. This means you should avoid particularly hard, tough or chewy foods.

Just like like when you had a temporary restoration on this tooth, you will expect to experience some discomfort to bite, cold and hot. This time it may take longer to fully resolve and it is not uncommon for this to be the case for 2-3 weeks before resolving. Likewise, the gums around your new onlay/crown can be sore and bleeding for 2-3 days. For any of these issues I advised to use warm salt-water mouth rinses and over the counter ibuprofen and/or paracetamol. If you are unsure if you can take these medications, please contact myself or your GP beforehand.

Your new crown/onlay may feel different to your original tooth but will feel far more comfortable than your temporary. You should feel fully acclimatised to your new restoration in a few days and your tongue should stop being attracted to this area and noticing the differences.

The longevity of the crown/onlay will depend on how well you can look after it and so you should start to brush and floss this tooth straight away. Many teeth with onlays or crowns restoring them have previously been heavily filled and/ or been very broken down. This means that the join where the restoration meets your tooth can be very close to, or underneath your gum line and is the most susceptible to future decay. Therefore thorough daily home care with toothbrushing and interdental cleaning is required alongside a low sugar diet.

Finally, if your bite feels very uneven or you are in pain, including persistent sensitivity, please call the practice or contact myself to discuss this.