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The short answer to this is ‘yes’. The longer answer will consider some circumstances where this can happen. It’s easy to assume once a problem is fixed, that’s the end of the matter—and with proper care, this is often the case. But there are circumstances in which existing dental work will need to be redone or replaced.

For a moment, compare this to changing a car tire. You hope the replacement will function forever. Yet, it is still possible that you will have a puncture or a flat, or after a long period, simple wear and tear will decrease its effectiveness.

Fillings

An example of this in dentistry is when you have a tooth filled. In the process of having a filling placed, decay is removed and the filling material is placed in the space that has now been made. While this takes care of the decay in this area, it is possible to still get decay on another part of the tooth, or in some cases, decay that forms at the edge of where the filling meets the tooth. A filling can also crack due to biting pressure or simply because of what you might be eating – we’re back to the truth that accidents do happen.

Crowns

The same can be said for a crown. While a crown covers a majority of the tooth structure, there is always an edge where the crown meets the natural tooth. This area is still susceptible to decay and wear. You can find other useful information about this in a recent blog post.

Dentures

The last misconception about lasting dental work deals with dentures. After the fitting of dentures, some seem to think that the need for careful dental hygiene and regular checks has ended, but this is not the case. As well as the fact that it’s always vital to be regularly screened for the earliest signs of oral cancer, some people do succumb to yeast infections, also known as oral thrush. Over a period, the teeth on your dentures can slowly wear down, or there can be problems with the underlying bone structure.

Maintain regular checkups

So how do you avoid these issues from occurring? The main thing to do is to maintain regular checkups with your dentist. At each checkup, all of the dental treatment and surrounding teeth and tissues are checked to ensure there have been no changes. And if a change has occurred, the more often a patient is checked, the more likely a change can be caught early and minimize the treatment that may need to be done.

Here at Southeast Family Dental we like to keep our patients fully informed and to recommend that you keep those checkup appointments to make sure that all is well. If you have any questions about the points raised here, or have other concerns to discuss, give our helpful team a call at (317) 359-8000.