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Dental Health: Dental Crowns
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped "cap" that is placed over a tooth—covering the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and/or to improve
its appearance.
The crowns, when cemented into place, fully encase the entire visible
portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line.
Why Is a Dental Crown Needed?
A dental crown may be needed in the following situations:
-
To protect a weak tooth (for instance, from decay) from breaking or to hold
together parts of a cracked tooth
-
To restore an already broken tooth or a tooth that has been severely 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
-
To cover misshaped or severely discolored teeth
-
To cover a dental implant
What Types of Crown Materials Are Available?
Permanent crowns can be made from all metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, all
resin, or all ceramic.
- Metals used in crowns include gold alloy, other alloys (for example,
palladium) or a base-metal alloy (for example, nickel or chromium). Compared
with other crown types, less tooth structure needs to be removed with metal
crowns, and tooth wear to opposing teeth is kept to a minimum. Metal crowns
withstand biting and chewing forces well and probably last the longest in terms
of wear down. Also, they rarely chip or break. The metallic color is the main
drawback. Metal crowns are a good choice for out-of-sight molars.
- Porcelain-fused-to-metal
dental crowns can be color matched to your
adjacent teeth (unlike the metallic crowns). However, more wearing to the
opposing teeth occurs with this crown type compared with metal or resin crowns.
The crown's porcelain portion can also chip or break off. Next to all-ceramic
crowns, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns look most like normal teeth. However,
sometimes the metal underlying the crown's porcelain can show through as a dark
line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede. These
crowns can be a good choice for front or back teeth.
- All-resin dental crowns are less expensive than other crown types.
However, they wear down over time and are more prone to fractures than
porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns.
- All-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns provide the best natural
color match than any other crown type and may be more suitable for people with
metal allergies. However, they are not as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal
crowns and they wear down opposing teeth a little more than metal or resin
crowns. All-ceramic crowns are a good choice for front teeth.
- Temporary versus permanent.
Temporary crowns can be made in your
dentist's office whereas permanent crowns are made in a dental laboratory.
Temporary crowns are made of acrylic or stainless steel and can be used as a
temporary restoration until a permanent crown is constructed by the dental
laboratory.
Next: What steps are involved in preparing a tooth for a crown? »
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