Crowns

Over time our teeth begin to weaken and become more susceptible to problems such as decay, cracks, discoloration and others. If you feel your smile isn’t what it once was, crowns can help you recover your smile. If your dentist notices that a tooth is decayed or seems weakened/cracked a crown may be necessary to make sure that there are no additional problems with the tooth. In cases like this a filling or bonding will not be sufficient.

The process of installing a crown takes 2-3 visits to the dentist. On the first visit the tooth will be reshaped by filing down the enamel so that the crown can be placed over it. You will be given a local anesthetic before this part of the procedure so that you do not experience any discomfort. Once the tooth has been reshaped, a mold will be taken of that tooth and the surrounding teeth. This mold will be sent to a dental lab so that your new crown can be made so that it fits in the spot created for it and looks the same relative to the surrounding teeth. Before leaving, your dentist will fit you with a temporary crown until your permanent crown is ready.

The crown takes about 2-3 weeks to be returned to your dentist. At this time you will have another appointment to place and fit the permanent crown. You will again have a local anesthetic to numb the area and the tooth will be placed using a cement to ensure the tooth sets in place. When you look in the mirror, you will see your old smile back. Crowns are durable and will usually last about 10-15 years. You should care for it as you would any of your other teeth with regular brushing and flossing. Call us today if you would like to learn more about how crowns can help restore your smile. The top image is all white in color.  The first picture below is a gold crown.Gold crowns are very gentle to the human body, but due the extremely high currant cost of gold, they tend to used less and less.   The bottom image top picture shows crowns that have a grayish metal substructure for strength but are not very esthetic.  As the tissue receeds, the grayish hue shines through making some people thing the tooth is "dead" or decaying.  The bottom picture is a crown with a high noble gold substructure to allow a more cometic resotoration while still utilizing a metal substruture.  Most newer crowns are like in the picture below that are made with a white metal  called ziconium.  This material is very strong and very hard to cut through.  It has taken years of development to obtain the proper esthetic elements necessary for todays picky esthetic consumer and yet demand the strength to last.

Crowns can be made from porcelain, porcelain fused to metal (the metal can be anything from gray non precious metals to high quality yellow gold), zirconia or a full gold crown. To maintain a natural look and feel a porcelain finished crown is best, as it can be matched to the shade of your other teeth. All porcelain crowns tend to mimic natural teeth the best and due to extreme advances in the last few years have improved in strength, color, appearance to the point that they are almost indistinguishable from natural teeth.   Gold has the best bioresponse (tissue response) and is very strong over the long term, but due to high gold prices in this economy, a gold crown is very expensive as it would be considered the "mercedes" of crowns/materials.