What is a Dental Crown?
When evaluating your smile, you may see cracked, broken, decayed, missing or just unattractive teeth. These issues can often be corrected by your dentist with the help of dental crowns. Crowns do not take the place of the teeth instead they just cover and strengthen your own natural tooth.
Receiving a dental crown is a standard procedure performed in dentistry that restores and strengthens a tooth back to proper form and function. A crown also commonly referred to as a “cap” is generally fabricated out of metal, ceramic, or a combination of metal and ceramic. In our office, the procedure typically requires two visits. The initial visit includes making impressions, shaping the tooth, and receiving a temporary crown. The temporary is made chairside and is tooth colored. However, it is only designed to function until the custom lab made crown is ready to be cemented. The second appointment is a quick appointment that doesn't typically require anesthesia. This is when the crown is permanently cemented in place.
There are a variety of reasons that clinically indicate the need for a dental crown. The following list contains the most common clinical indications:
A cavity that is too large for a standard dental filling
A cracked or broken tooth
A root canal treated tooth that needs reinforcement and protection
A permanently stained or discolored tooth or teeth
A misshaped tooth that is a concern esthetically or functionally
To replace a missing tooth with a “bridge” which is a set of connected dental crowns
To replace a missing tooth with a dental implant requires a crown to fit over the implant.
*6 & 7 will be detailed in later blogs
Below is an animation that visually demonstrates the procedure.