What's Causing The Dark Ring At The Base Of Your Dental Crown?

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of a dental crown is that it can restore a tooth's functionality, and look absolutely seamless while doing so. This protective shell encasing the tooth is an exact match to the underlying tooth (minus the deterioration that led to the crown in the first place), meaning that the crown looks and functions just like a natural tooth. It will give you years of faithful service, which is why it can be disconcerting to notice the emergence of a dark, unsightly ring at the base of the crown where it meets the gum. What can be causing this?

Reasons

There are three key reasons why a dark ring can develop at the base of a dental crown:

1. The dental crown has deteriorated, exposing its underlying components.
2. The tooth beneath the dental crown has decayed
3. Both the crown and the tooth have experienced some form of deterioration.

If you should notice a dark ring at the base of your dental crown, you must see your dentist and have the cause identified, so that the most appropriate solution can be determined.

Your Dental Crown

Dental crowns can be made from a variety of materials, and when the deterioration of the crown has led to a dark band at its base, it's likely that the material is the culprit. Some dental crowns are porcelain fused to metal. The standard wear and tear that a dental crown is exposed to can partially erode the upper layer of porcelain. While the crown has remained perfectly intact, the metal base has become visible, and the dark ring is in fact this metal. Correcting the issue is simple, and the crown will be removed and replaced with one that is entirely porcelain. 

Your Tooth

Of course, the existing crown might already be entirely porcelain, and in this case, the dark discoloration can be simple tooth decay that has occurred beneath the crown. In this case, the crown will be removed so that the decay can be rectified. This might be as straightforward as removing the deterioration and replacing the missing tooth structure with a composite dental resin, before reattaching the crown. Your dentist will carefully inspect the tooth during this time, ensuring that it has remained healthy and capable of hosting the crown.

Both Factors

When the dark band at the base of the crown is due to both decay and exposure of the crown's metal components, the crown will be removed, the decay will be repaired, and the metal fused to the tooth's crown will be replaced with a porcelain crown. 

A dark band at the base of a dental crown can indicate serious trouble with a tooth, which is why it must be promptly inspected. That being said, the issue is usually fairly simple to identify and correct.