Will my Gums Eventually Recede After Getting Teeth Crowns?

You are correct that some teeth with crowns have gum recession.  The gum recession can be caused by several different things.  Crowns that are placed with  their margins below the gum line are prone to developing  gum recession.  In addition, people with severe periodontal disease can develop gum recession as they lose their underlying bone.  Clenching and grinding is another cause of gum recession.  The excess forces on teeth cause the teeth to flex microscopically, causing gum and bone recession.  

This is a common misconception about recession.  Having a crown performed should NOT cause recession in your mouth.  That being said- it the crown contains metal you could have a mild allergic reaction to the metal (nickel, tin, cadmium, etc that are sometimes contained in the metal) and the gum tissue could pull away from the tooth in response.  

Recession is almost always causes from a disharmony in the occlusion (bite).  Meaning you could have a crown that is misplaced for your bite and it could intefere with your bite (called working and non-working interferences).  This causes the tooth to be stressed laterally - teeth don't like side-to-side forces being placed on them-  and eventually causes recession.  

 

Dear ChocoCinnamon:

Be it veneers, crown, or any other restoration, if it is close to the gum line, recession might happen.  Recession also happens on natural, unrestored teeth.  It can be caused by genetic factors, poor oral hygiene, dental work in general and bulky dental work in particular. 

What is missing from your question is the WHY your dentist recommended crowns.  If your teeth are so destroyed that crowns are needed to restore them to proper form and function, then recession is the last thing that you should worried about.  On the other heand, if you are doing this to avoid orthodontics (braces), then you should think twice about cutting into virgin, natural tooth structure and causing new, man made, problems.

If your oral hygiene is good and you are having crowns to replace destroyed, missing tooth structure, then there are metal-free crowns available for your dentist to chose from.  Some are not quite as strong as the metal supported ones, others are.  It is a choice that your dentist has to make based on your circumstances.

If you have any doubts, ask the dentist to show you close up pictures of his/her work and look for nice pink gums around the crowns.  This would be a healthy situation.

Best of luck,

Dr. Zev Kaufman

What you describe is a result of periodontal disease, which normally affects a more older group of the population, and is independent of whether a crown is present or not.  It is due to bone loss.  If a crown is recommended, then it should be done.

Gum recession has many causes. Placing the margins of the crwon under the gum although,  makes it more esthetic ,it can cause more gum loss than if it were placed above gum line. Grinding and clenching issues, metal VS all porclain crowns, and gum and bone disease also are factors in gum recession.

To answer your question, if the type of crowns are properly chosen and placed properly as well, your gum recession should not be any more than if you did not have crowns.