A dental crown is nothing but a certain cap that is placed if any tooth is damaged. These crowns will cover, protect, and restore your teeth’s shape when fillings are not good enough to solve the issue. Generally, you will get dental crowns in the following materials:
- Metals
- Resin
- Porcelain
- Ceramics
Typically, dental crowns will not require any special care, however, you need to maintain proper oral hygiene regularly.
What a dental crown actually is?
There is every possibility that over a period of time, some of your teeth may get damaged due to several reasons like injuries, tooth decay, or because of overuse. There is a possibility of losing the shape or size of your teeth.
These dental crowns are formed in the shape of certain tooth-like “caps”, which can easily be placed over the damaged tooth. As a result, your crown will restore proper shape of the tooth and also maintain its strength, size, and appearance.
Your dental crown will be cemented into its place by the best dentist Poway on your tooth to cover the visible part of your tooth.
Why a dental crown is needed?
You will need a certain dental crown for the following few situations:
- For protecting your weak tooth from breaking or for holding together different parts of your cracked tooth.
- For restoring a tooth that is already broken or any tooth that has worn out severely
- For supporting and covering a tooth having a large filling if there is not enough of your tooth left
- For holding a dental bridge properly in its place
- For covering any damaged tooth due to a certain accident or any severely discolored teeth
- For covering a dental implant
- For making a cosmetic modification
As far as young children are concerned, a dental crown also is needed on baby teeth for:
- Saving a tooth, which is already damaged so much by decay that now it cannot support a filling.
- For protecting a child’s teeth that have got a high risk of decay, particularly when a child got difficulty maintaining his/her daily oral hygiene.
- To decrease the use of general anesthesia because of age, medical history, and behavior, to cooperate fully with the various requirements of suitable dental care.
In all such cases, any pediatric dentist in Rancho Bernardo will most likely recommend a crown of stainless steel.
What are the various types of crowns available?
Any permanent crowns are generally made from various metals like stainless steel, gold, or certain alloy, all resin, porcelain-fused-to-metal, or all-ceramic.
Most stainless steel-made crowns can be prefabricated crowns and are generally used on our permanent teeth primarily to take a certain temporary measure. This crown is going to protect either the tooth or the filling while any permanent crown will be made of some other material.
Particularly for children, commonly a crown made of stainless steel is used for fitting over their primary tooth, which has been specially prepared so that it can fit with it. The crown will cover the entire tooth as well as protect it from any further decay.
As soon as the primary tooth will come out for making room for any permanent tooth, then the crown will come out naturally along with it.
Generally, for children, stainless steel crowns will be preferred for their teeth because they will not need multiple visits to the cosmetic dentist Rancho Bernardo. Such crowns will also be more cost-effective as compared to custom-made crowns and also prophylactic dental care will be needed for protecting a tooth if it is without a crown.
Metal alloys with a high concentration of platinum or gold, as well as base-metal alloys, are utilized in crowns. Metal crowns are the most resistant to biting and chewing pressures and are likely to survive the longest wear.
Metal crowns are also unlikely to break or chip. The biggest disadvantage of gold is its shiny color and exorbitant price. Metal crowns are still a fantastic option for molars that are hidden from view.
Dental crowns that are made of porcelain-fused-to-metal are color-matched to our natural teeth. However, when compared to metal or any resin crowns, this crown type causes more wear to its opposing teeth. The porcelain part of any crown is likely to chip or crack.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, compared to any all-ceramic crowns, appear to be the most natural. However, the metal beneath the porcelain of the crown can occasionally show through as a black line, particularly around the gum line, and much more so in case, your gums recede.
Such crowns are suitable for back or front teeth, and also long bridges where the metal is required for stability.
Dental crowns made entirely of resin are less expensive compared to other crown kinds. However, unlike porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, they deteriorate with time and can be more prone to fractures.
All-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns have got better natural color matching compared to any other crown type and may be healthier for patients who are allergic to metals. Front and rear teeth can both benefit from all-ceramic crowns.
Permanent vs. temporary
Temporary crowns are created in the dentist’s office, but permanent crowns are usually made in a certain dental laboratory. Temporary crowns are typically made of acrylic or stainless steel and are used as a temporary repair while a permanent crown is being produced in a lab.
