Crowns
Crowns sometimes referred to as "caps" are dental restorations that cover the entire visible portion of the tooth. Crowns may be necessary because of extensive damage due to decay, large old fillings that have weakened the tooth, final restorations after a root canal, or extremely sensitive teeth. Crowns are made of natural looking porcelain color matched to blend in with your own teeth. Sometimes an underlying metal shell is used under the porcelain if additional support is needed. Crowns strengthen and protect tooth structure. They can even improve your existing smile. Crowns consist of two appointments. At your first appointment Dr. Sanchez will prepare your tooth, take an impression to be sent to a quality dental lab, and a tooth colored temporary will be placed. Once we have received your crown from the lab we will call you for your next appointment. During this next appointment your crown will be cemented permanently with an appointment time of this visit for thirty minutes or less.
What type of crowns are available?
There are many type of crowns, some permanenet crowns can be made from all metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, all resin, or all ceramic.
Metals used in crowns include gold alloy, other alloys (for example, palladium) or a base-metal alloy (for example, nickel or chromium). Compared with other crown types, less tooth structure needs to be removed with metal crowns, and tooth wear to opposing teeth is kept to a minimum. Metal crowns withstand biting and chewing forces well and probably last the longest in terms of wear down. Also, metal crowns rarely chip or break. The metallic color is the main drawback. Metal crowns are a good choice for out-of-sight molars.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns can be color matched to your adjacent teeth (unlike the metallic crowns). However, more wearing to the opposing teeth occurs with this crown type compared with metal or resin crowns. The crown's porcelain portion can also chip or break off. Next to all-ceramic crowns, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns look most like normal teeth. However, sometimes the metal underlying the crown's porcelain can show through as a dark line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede. These crowns can be a good choice for front or back teeth.
All-resin dental crowns are less expensive than other crown types. However, they wear down over time and are more prone to fractures than porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns.
All-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns provide the best natural color match than any other crown type and may be more suitable for people with metal allergies. However, they are not as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns and they wear down opposing teeth a little more than metal or resin crowns. All-ceramic crowns are a good choice for front teeth.
To find out what other forms of crowns are available please contact us, our professional dental staff is here to assist you and answer any question you may have.
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