A dental crown is a ‘custom shaped tooth-like’ cap that’s used to hide large spaces that can’t be adjusted with simple fillings; it can also be applied if you have oddly shaped, badly stained, discolored or damaged/broken teeth.
A lot of patients who come to us need dental crowns. In fact, it’s one of the most common dental procedures due to its effectiveness and affordability.
Dental crowns help you hide unsightly features of your teeth and enhance the aesthetic appeal of your smile and overall personality. In simple words, a dental crown is similar to a tooth cap that serves as a simple yet effective solution to restore broken or damaged teeth.
Here’s what you need to know about dental crowns.
How Do Dental Crowns Work?
When your dentist gives you the green light for getting a dental crown, he or she will first get an x-ray of your teeth to prepare an impression of your teeth.
Based on this impression, a mold is formed that helps create a temporary crown that’s fixed on your damaged tooth to provide protection and cover the area while the permanent crown is being made.
A permanent crown may take four weeks to be prepared, as it’s made in a dental lab.
Types Of Dental Crowns
The most common type of crowns is acrylic crowns; however, they aren’t the only option that you can go for, there are several other types of dental crowns too. Other common materials include porcelain, metal alloy, ceramic, and gold alloy.
- Porcelain: Porcelain crowns can be made to resemble your natural teeth, which is their biggest benefit. They are fused with metal alloys to make them more durable as porcelain in itself is a weak metal. They are quite affordable and cost around $800 to $1450 per tooth.
- Ceramic: Ceramic crowns cost the same as porcelain crowns, but tend to be lighter as there is no need for these crowns to be fused with a metal. They provide a natural feeling to the wearer; however, ceramic crowns require extra care because they’re not as durable as porcelain.
- Metal And Gold Alloys: Metal alloys and gold alloys as dental crown materials have been used for years due to their durability, even though they tend to be more expensive than other options. Moreover, they don’t look as natural as other options, and hence are perfect for teeth that are not visible when you smile or open your mouth. Their cost may range from $900 to $2500.
Is The Procedure Dangerous Or Painful?
The process is carried out after giving a small dose of anesthesia to the patient removing any risk of pain or discomfort. Once the anesthesia wears off, the patient may feel some sensitivity or very minimal pain which wears off in a few minutes or hours.
How Long Does a Dental Crown Last?
Dental crowns are said to last from 5 to 15 years depending upon how much you take care for them. You must make sure to take care of your oral health if you wish your dental crowns to last longer; this includes brushing and flossing daily and avoiding biting on hard surfaces.
Feel free to get in touch with us at Kirkland Family Dentistry if you have more questions about dental crowns or any other dental procedure.
Question. A molar crown recently broke off and my dentist tells me that I have to have that tooth replaced by an implant because the crown was attached to a titanium post. It was the post that broke. He was very upset about the incident and fussed around for awhile before referring me to an oral sugeon.
I am wondering why the crown just can’t be replaced and am sort of afraid to ask him or the surgeon or for a second opinion because we have been going to this dentist for more than 30 years and he is near retirement and I don’t want to upset him. But he has ME upset because I cannot see why the crown can’t simply be replaced. Actually the existing one is right now “super glued in place as a temporary fix. Otherwise there is nothing wrong with the tooth that I know of.
What to do? Can such a crown conceivably be replaced without pulling the tooth and all that?