Could Toostie Rolls be the most dangerous food for crowned teeth?


Sometimes when a patient has come in with a crown that has come off I have observed a dark brown sticky substance adhering to the inner surface of the restoration. It looks like "tootsie roll". When I have asked, my patients usually admit to having recently chewed some tootsie rolls or caramels.

The other day, Stan one of my long time patients came in and asked me to recement one of his crowns. He proudly explained that it had come out several days ago but he had placed it back on his tooth and it had stayed put.

I tried to remove it with GC forceps, but it wouldn't budge, so I asked him to wait until it came out again so I could re-cement it. A week or two went by and he called and said it had come loose but he had placed it back in because he didn't want to walk around without his crown. He came in , but once again I wasn't able to remove it. He asked what could he do to make it come out before his next visit, so I could re-cement it?I told him to find some stale tootsie rolls and chew them the day before his visit. I reasoned that they seem to be the perfect vehicle for loosening a crown. Indeed when he came in for his next visit, his crown had come out.... unfortunately not the one that he wanted to come loose! Instead a crown that opposed it had popped out. Upon observation, the crown still had its cement intact, but the tootsie rolls had broken the seal of the cement to the tooth.

I re-cemented his opposing crown and told him to wait until his "loose" crown came out again, but this time call me when it happens and I will get him in asap for it's re-cementation as long as he does't stick it back in by himself again. Probably this blog post should serve as a warning to others ... Eat tootsie rolls at your own risk!

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2017/12/could-toostie-rolls-be-most-dangerous.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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