Provisional Crowns

  1. The provisional cement requires about 45 minutes to set properly. Please avoid chewing food during this period of time.
  2. The provisional restorations or final restorations are now held in place with a temporary cement. This weak cement is used in order to facilitate removal of the restoration for further procedures. Do not chew anything sticky while the temporary cement is being used. These provisional restorations are meant to be in place for only a short period of time. The final cement that will be used is much stronger.
  3. The provisional restoration may not resemble the final restoration in size, color, texture, shape, or in any other way.
  4. Certain foods may stick to the provisional restoration material. This will not happen with the final gold or porcelain restorations.
  5. Provisional restorations are not strong. They may break or come off. If this happens, call our office and we will attend to them. If you are somewhere where you cannot contact a dentist and the provisional crown or bridge comes off, go to a pharmacy and purchase a tube of cream denture adhesive. Clean out the provisional restoration and replace it on your tooth or teeth with some of the adhesive placed in each crown that fits over a prepared tooth. This denture adhesive will hold the provisional restoration in place until you can return to our office for further treatment. Do not leave the provisional restoration out of your mouth for an extended period of time! The teeth surrounding the prepared teeth or the prepared teeth themselves could move and the final restoration may then not fit properly.
  6. If you have a final restoration that is cemented for a short time with provisional cement, please avoid sticky foods such as gum, etc. Chewing these types of food items could cause the provisional cement to fail; and the final bridge, crown, onlay, or inlay could loosen.
  7. Please brush and floss your teeth daily as you have been instructed. If you have a provisional restoration in place, when you use floss, begin as usual but when it is time to remove the floss, let go of the floss with one hand and pull it from between the teeth with the other hand. This will reduce the possibility of the floss “catching” the edge of the provisional restoration and pulling it off the tooth.
  8. It is possible that the prepared teeth, now covered by the provisional restoration, will be sensitive to hot, cold, or sweets. This is not uncommon. The provisional restorations may leak saliva or other fluids onto the newly prepared (drilled) tooth. This will not be the case with the final restoration.

Additional Instructions

  • Rinse with chlorhexidine gluconate times daily until one week after the final cementation.
  • Rinse with warm salt water as instructed.
  • Brush and floss as instructed after every meal.