Why do black lines around the crown of a tooth appear?
Do you notice any dark lines around the dental restorative appliances like crowns or veneers you received?
Teeth crowns and veneers are bonded over a tooth to restore their natural appearance. It is crucial to take care of those repaired teeth because they are also susceptible to bacterial infection despite being they are coated with a sturdy substance.
However, the black or brown lines appear on the crowned and veneered teeth as the prosthetic appliance becomes old, irrespective of how well you oversee them.
Are you embarrassed with the unaesthetic smile due to the dark lines over the crowned teeth? Keep reading to know the underlying reasons.
What causes the black lines around the crown of a tooth?
There are 3 reasons behind the dark lines that appear between the gum margin and the crown cemented over a tooth. They are listed as follows:
- Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal (PFM) – Some tooth-colored crowns have a metallic base that provides the appliance a strong framework and prevents cracks. Dentists fix the crowns over the gum surfaces using an adhesive agent. When the crown gets older, the porcelain gets thinner whilst the gums also begin to recede which unveils the lowest portion (metal component) of the crown. It is exhibited as a dark line around crowns.
- Shadow from the crown – When a crown is not attached properly, it shows black lines due to the optical illusion of the crown.
- No contact lens effect – It occurs in rare cases. Generally, dentists more opaque porcelain in dental crowns and veneers fabricated to cover a dark or stained tooth. Unlike translucent porcelain, the opaque porcelain does not have a contact lens blending effect so that the darkness underneath the gums visible when gums begin to recede.
How can you get rid of such black lines on the crowns?
The dark lines around crowns cannot be removed from such dental restorations. Hence dentists remove the existing restorative appliance and replace them with a new one.
Earlier, dentists use restorations like silver fillings, PFM, and other dark-colored appliances to revamp the damaged or mishaped tooth. Nowadays, dentists do not prefer such dark-colored restorations.
Instead, you have an array of options like ceramic crowns, porcelain crowns, composite resins, and others that appear in the tooth’s natural color whilst they are strong enough to restore the biting and chewing ability also.
To know more about the dental restoration appliances dentists are currently using, contact our dental clinic in Colombo.
