What are Crowns?
Crowns cap or cover a damaged tooth. Besides strengthening a damaged tooth, a crown also improves the tooth’s appearance. A crown sometimes is placed on top of an implant to provide a similar shape to a tooth and also can match the color of your natural teeth. Of course, there are other materials you can use for a crown such as gold and metal alloys, acrylic and ceramic. Metal alloys are sometimes stronger and your dentist may use them for back teeth.

You may need a crown for various reasons including:
• Protect a weak tooth from breaking
• Replace a large filling when there isn’t enough tooth intact
• Rebuild a broken tooth
• Attach a bridge
• Cover a discolored or poorly shaped tooth or an implant

What are Bridges?
If you are missing more than one or more teeth, your dentist may recommend a bridge. Your teeth will shift if you have missing teeth resulting in a bad bite. The imbalance of your teeth may lead to gum disease and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.

Bridges are cemented to the natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space. These teeth serve as anchors for the bridge. A replacement tooth is attached to the crowns. You do have a choice in materials for bridges. Your family dentist can help you decide what to use based on the location of the missing tooth as well as other important considerations and total cost.

How Long do Crowns and Bridges Last?
Crowns and bridges can last forever with proper dental care. To keep your crown or bridges in place and healthy, you should practice good oral hygiene. A bridge can lose its support if the teeth or bone holding it in place are damaged by dental disease.

As with any dental treatments, it is important to keep your gums and teeth healthy by brushing and flossing daily. Getting regular dental check-ups and cleanings are just as important.

What is a Crown?
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped covering or cap that is placed over a tooth – covering the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength or to improve its look. When cemented into place, the crown fully encases the entire visible portion of a tooth that is above the gums. There are many reasons why the dentist wants to give you a crown. Here are a few reasons:

• To protect a weak tooth from breaking or to hold together parts of a cracked tooth.
• To cover severely discolored teeth or misshaped or broken teeth.
• To restore a broken tooth or a tooth that has been worn down.
• To cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there isn’t a lot of tooth left.
• To hold a dental bridge in place and to cover a dental implant.

There are a few steps that take place when getting a crown. The first step involves examining and preparing the tooth, and the second visit involves placement of the permanent crown. You need to remember that since dental crowns are temporary until a permanent crown is ready, most dentists suggest that a few precautions be taken including avoiding sticky, chewy food such as gum as well as hard food and minimizing use of the side of your mouth.

There are problems that can develop when wearing a crown such as discomfort or sensitivity. You may want to brush your teeth with toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth. Pain or sensitivity that occurs when you bite down usually means that the crown is too high on the tooth. If this is the case, call the dentist to get it fixed. Other problems includes a chipped crown, loose crowns, crowns that have an improper fit and possible allergic reactions.

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Before going home, your dentist should give you a list of the dos, don’ts and care of your temporary prosthesis. Some of these tips should include:

• avoiding the use of that prosthesis for hot, cold or hard foods and drinks
• avoiding any knocks to that area of the mouth
• gently brushing and flossing around the temporary prosthesis
• checking the prosthesis each night before bed
• checking your gums each night before bed

You should report immediately to your dentist if you are experiencing any pain, especially severe pain. If your gums change color, especially to a bright pink, then you should also check with your dentist to ensure there is no infection developing. If the temporary dental prosthesis comes lose, or fall out, keep it safe and return to your dentist.

Temporary crowns, for example, are not glued permanently to your teeth – after all, they are only temporary. If you bite into hard foods, or drink very cold (or very hot) drinks, then you can force that temporary crown to separate from the tooth. Your dentist will need to restore it quickly before the tooth receives any further damage. This is important since a permanent dental crown (or any other prosthesis) is being custom made for that tooth – you don’t want to change that tooth’s structure since that will make the prosthesis difficult to fit. Look after any temporary treatment you receive – your permanent prosthesis will depend on it.

You can view a dental crown as being a cap that is placed over a damaged or broken tooth. The dental crown will provide strength to your damaged tooth, saving you from having to have it extracted. Dental crowns can be made from a number of substances, the most common today being porcelain or ceramic. These substances can be matched to the exact color of your remaining teeth, or, if to match any other treatments such as veneers. In the past, gold and metal alloys were popular with some people having a gold dental crown made for looks rather than need.

A dentist will generally recommend a crown if you have any of the following issues:

• Large filling when there isn’t enough tooth remaining
• Weak tooth that needs strengthening
• Broken tooth that requires repairing
• New dental bridge
• Dental implant
• Discolored or poorly shaped tooth
• Root canal treatment

Dental crowns have been around for over a century and have become one of the most common treatments for damaged or broken teeth. Modern dental crowns are strong, long wearing, and look very much like natural teeth. They allow users to continue a normal lifestyle in the same way as others with all their natural teeth.

Decay – While a dental crown won’t decay, the tooth it sits on can, and if you don’t have a thorough oral hygiene routine, it most likely will. A dentist may have to remove a crown in order to access and remove a decayed tooth. A new crown can then be fitted that takes into account the new shape of the tooth.

Uneven Wear - Crowns are hard wearing and long lasting, and after fifteen years, the teeth on either side may have worn down slightly, leaving the crowned tooth standing higher. A short crown can be made so that it fits the profile of the remaining teeth.

Breakage – While crowns are hard wearing and long lasting, they will start to show the signs of age. Ten or fifteen years of constant daily grinding is a good workout for any man-made tooth. A new porcelain crown can be made to restore the tooth’s appearance.

While dental crowns are long wearing, they will not last forever. If you look after them well and visit a dentist on a regular basis, then you should get fifteen years from them. However, anything can happen at any time requiring a replacement dental crown. Follow your dentist’s advice on caring for your dental crown, and if you have any problems with a crown, see your dentist as soon as possible.

Dental crowns are generally used:

• to restore a chipped or broken tooth
• to strengthen a tooth
• to restore the cosmetic appearance of a tooth

Badly chipped and broken teeth are the main use of dental crowns. What is important is to have enough of the tooth and its root system in place, healthy, and able to support a dental crown. If there is, then your dentist will prepare the tooth for a crown.

Preparation involves reshaping the tooth in such a way that a dental crown can be fixed permanently to the remaining tooth. A cast is made of the remaining tooth and sent to a laboratory where a custom made crown is made. This can take up to a week before it arrives back at your dentist – in the meantime, you will have a temporary crown in place to protect the prepared tooth.

Once your crown is ready, your dentist will remove the temporary crown and permanently fix the customized crown. One of the features of a customized crown is that it is made to seamlessly blend in with your current teeth. The exception to this is if you decide to have a gold dental crown made. Dentist’s only recommend customized dental crowns in situations where they are needed – often, the alternative is to remove the tooth altogether.

In many cases, the tooth’s root structure is still good and strong so it seems a shame to extract that tooth. This is where dental crowns have always been useful. The crown is like an artificial top that is bonded to what is left of the tooth. This saves the root structure while providing the patient with a new strong tooth replacement.

Why is using a crown important? If the root structure is strong, then it forms an essential part of your general dental makeup. As soon as a tooth is extracted, it takes away part of your dental structure. This means the teeth either side are free to move and as they move there is a flow effect to the remaining teeth. This can lead to teeth becoming crooked and changing your overall bite.

By maintaining that tooth’s root system, the remaining teeth are kept in alignment, thus preventing further problems. If you have a tooth that is broken or showing signs of decay, then take the time to visit your dentist. A crown will prevent any further damage to that tooth while also maintaining the overall well-being of your teeth.

Gold Crowns – gold crowns are made from a gold alloy. The finished product is a gold-colored tooth. Gold crowns used to be very popular to the point that patients would ask a dentist to apply a gold crown, even though they didn’t need one – a real touch of vanity and being trendy. Gold crowns are not used that frequently today, but some dentists still offer them. Gold crowns are particularly useful for molars that do all the hard work. Gold is kinder to the opposing tooth and strong enough to handle the toughest of conditions.

Porcelain Fused To Metal – these are the most common crowns used in dentistry. As the name implies, these crowns have an external porcelain cover that has been fused to metal. This makes for a hard long lasting crown that will take most wear and tear. The downside to these crowns are that the metal used can start to show through as you age and your gum line recedes a little.

Porcelain With Ceramic Lining – the newest crowns in use are those that are made from porcelain, but rather than fused to metal, they have a ceramic lining. Often referred to as all ceramic, or all porcelain, these crowns have a more realistic look than ‘fused to metal’ crowns. All porcelain crowns are not as strong as the other two so they are generally not used for teeth that do a lot of heavy work (such as molars), or in patients who suffer with Bruxism (tooth grinding).

Your choice of crown has to be done in consultation with your dentist. They will advise which type of crown is best suited to your tooth.

• Protecting weak teeth from breaking, or repairing a crack in a tooth
• Restoring a broken tooth
• Covering a tooth with a lot of filling or little tooth left
• Holding a bridge in place
• Restoring color to a tooth
• Covering dental implants

So now that you know what a dental crown can do, which type of crown is best? My professional opinion is the porcelain crown, but here are your options:

• Metal – Some crowns are made with alloy – either gold or palladium or a base metal like nickel or chromium. These are the most durable, but they can’t match the color of your teeth, and some people are allergic to metal.
• Porcelain-fused-to-metal – These can be color matched to adjacent teeth, however, they can wear down those teeth and the metal can sometimes show through.
• Resin – These are the least expensive dental crowns and they wear down over time. Plus, they can often fracture.
• Ceramic – Great for matching the color of adjacent teeth and can wear down opposing teeth. Also prone to chipping.
• Porcelain – Also good for matching the color of other teeth in the mouth, though they are not as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns.

Porcelain crowns are a good choice for many patients because they are more durable than resin, able to be color matched to adjacent teeth, not as costly as metal and porcelain-fused-to-metal, and people with allergies have no worries. When it comes down to an either-or choice, for most dentists (and patients), it is ceramic or porcelain. I prefer porcelain because it is the most beautiful type of dental crown when done correctly. But, of course, it’s always the patient’s choice.

Today, dental crowns are used for a wide range of reasons, including cosmetic for some ethnic groups. Crowns are now generally advisable in the following situations:

• To replace a large filling when there isn’t enough of the original tooth left
• To protect a weak tooth from cracking, chipping, or breaking
• To restore a tooth that has broken
• To cover a tooth that has had root canal treatment
• To cover a dental implant
• When attaching a bridge
• To cover a poorly shaped tooth

Current technology enables crowns to be made of porcelain or ceramic. This material is easily matched to the color of your natural teeth, making them almost invisible to even the closest inspection. There are times when gold and metal alloys are still requested and these are still being made and fitted. Your dentist will generally recommend the best type of crown based on your needs.

Your dentist will have to prepare your tooth for a crown, and this generally does require some form of anesthetic. This is to ensure you don’t feel any discomfort at all. Crowns, once in place, look like your own teeth, yet they strengthen and improve the appearance of your teeth. They also allow patients to lead normal lives, generally with few restrictions in their diet. Speak to your dentist if you have broken teeth – you may be able to have them crowned, thus restoring your teeth to as good as new.