Dental Crowns | All You Need To Know About

The use for Dental Crowns:

• When a tooth has a root canal, it becomes fragile and the chance of fracture increases. Placing dental crown will prevent tooth from fracturing.
• When teeth are broken down or worn out as a result of grinding a crown or a cap will restore them to their original shape and function.
• A crown as a part of a bridge can also replace a missing tooth. The crown on the missing tooth is attached to two other dental crowns on either side of the missing tooth.
• As a cosmetic measure, dental crowns can cover a discolored or poorly shape tooth.
• If a tooth has gross amount of cavity, chip or cracks, a crown will restore the tooth to the original shape.
• Another cosmetic measure is to close small gaps between teeth or minor straitening of a tooth where braces is not desired.

Different Types of Dental Crowns:

• Porcelain fused to metal (PFM) Dental Crowns: These are the most common dental crowns. They are very strong and can be match to the color of the other teeth.
• Zirconia (all porcelain) Dental Crowns: These are the strongest crowns with least amount of chance to fracture. They are very strong and as a result the can be made thinner than PFM. They also provide great esthetics that can be used for both back and front teeth. How ever the cost is more compare to PFM.
• Temporarily Dental Crowns: In general they are made while the permanent crown is being fabricated in the lab. They are made of acrylic and are very week and fracture easily.
• Stainless Steel Dental Crowns: These are prefabricated crowns that are mostly used on kids. They fit are not great and is not recommended for long term use. Mostly they are made on baby teeth and some permanent teeth while they are still not fully erupted. Later on, they will be replaced to permanent crowns like PFM.
• Metal crowns: They are made from metals such as gold or cast silver. These are the strongest crowns however due to the color of gold and silver are not being made much. They are mostly made for the back teeth where the esthetic is not as concern.