{"id":366,"date":"2019-01-28T00:41:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T05:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/?p=366"},"modified":"2019-08-28T00:48:31","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T04:48:31","slug":"crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that\u2019s the case, we won\u2019t be able to fill the cavity in the usual way because the gum tissue is in the way. To make it possible to treat, we may need to perform a minor surgical procedure known as crown lengthening<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"before

<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the name implies, the procedure helps expose more of the crown, the tooth\u2019s visible part, from the surrounding gum tissue. In basic terms, we\u2019re repositioning the gum tissue away from the biting surface of a tooth to make room for a filling. It\u2019s also useful for improving a tooth\u2019s appearance by making it look longer, or creating room for a crown or other dental restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After applying a local anesthesia, the dentist (or periodontist, a specialist in the gums) creates a tiny flap of gum tissue with a series of incisions. This allows the dentist to move the affected gums out of the way to access the underlying bone. The dentist then reshapes the bone to adequately support the gum tissue when it\u2019s finally repositioned to expose the crown. In its new and improved position, the dentist sutures the gum tissue in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a few days afterward, the patient will need to restrict their diet to soft foods, avoid strenuous activities and apply an ice pack to help reduce swelling the day of surgery. They will also prescribe a pain reliever and possibly an antibiotic to reduce the chances of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most people return to normal activities a few days later, you\u2019ll usually have to wait a few weeks for the gums to heal before undergoing any further treatments for the affected teeth. But even with the wait, crown lengthening could make it possible to not only save your tooth but improve your smile as well.If you would like more information on treating tooth decay, please contact us<\/a> or schedule an appointment<\/a> for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor<\/em> magazine article \u201cCrown Lengthening: This Common Surgical Procedure Restores Function and Improves Appearance<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Woo Wang Dental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-28T05:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-28T04:48:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Screen-Shot-2019-08-28-at-12.43.44-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"357\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"314\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"woowangadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"woowangadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-28T05:41:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-28T04:48:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8461868da8e657cc4d632503b50c50f9\"},\"description\":\"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Woo Wang Dental\",\"description\":\"Dentist in Kensington and Gaithersburg\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8461868da8e657cc4d632503b50c50f9\",\"name\":\"woowangadmin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay","description":"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay","og_description":"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.","og_url":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/","og_site_name":"Woo Wang Dental","article_published_time":"2019-01-28T05:41:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-28T04:48:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":357,"height":314,"url":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Screen-Shot-2019-08-28-at-12.43.44-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"woowangadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"woowangadmin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/","url":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/","name":"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-28T05:41:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-28T04:48:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8461868da8e657cc4d632503b50c50f9"},"description":"While tooth decay is a potential problem at any age, the risk increases as you grow older. Not only are senior adults more susceptible, decay is often more difficult to treat. That\u2019s because cavities can occur at or below the gum line, often due to gum recession.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/crown-lengthening-might-be-necessary-for-seniors-with-tooth-decay\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crown Lengthening Might be Necessary for Seniors with Tooth Decay"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/","name":"Woo Wang Dental","description":"Dentist in Kensington and Gaithersburg","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8461868da8e657cc4d632503b50c50f9","name":"woowangadmin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woowangdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}