What are dental crowns?
A dental crown is a restoration that goes on top of your tooth. It's basically like a helmet that covers your tooth and makes things strong and healthy for a very, very long time.
What are the alternatives to dental crowns?
Sometimes you can get away with a filling, possibly. It just depends on how large the defect is in the tooth. If there's a small cavity or a small defect, we can restore that tooth with a filling. But if it needs a crown, then there's really no other alternative other than a crown. Some people have tried inlays or onlays, which we do offer, but in many cases, those end up failing due to not providing enough protection for a tooth. They can cause a crack or an onlay to fall out.
Crowns are done conservatively. When they're done well, they last a very long time, and they're the best option in many situations.
What type of dental crowns are there?
You have zirconia. You have porcelain, which is like an EMAX or lithium silicate. You have metal crowns, gold crowns, and porcelain fused to metal crowns. So there's a wide range of different materials that we have options to use.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these materials for dental crowns?
They have different levels of aesthetics, and they have different levels of strength. Traditionally, for many years, we used a lot of porcelain fused to metal crowns. The disadvantage with those is they're so thick, they're so hard, and they can have that dark line at the gum line. A lot of patients don't like them. We tend not to use that material anymore.
We love to use zirconia. It's a very biocompatible, very nice material that your gums like and grow into, and it helps reduce bacterial and plaque retention and helps reduce inflammation. Zirconia is very, very strong. It looks really, really nice. In some cases on front teeth, we will use porcelain. It's also pretty strong, and they look really, really nice. Gold is also great, but most patients don't want the metal color of gold and the cost associated with that anymore.
Is it necessary to get a dental crown after a root canal?
If it's on a back tooth, yes, you definitely will need a crown. If it's on a front tooth, we sometimes can avoid a crown and do a filling because back teeth take a lot more pressure and force when you're biting, and not getting a crown has been proven to lead to failure of those teeth.
Can you explain the dental crown procedure?
We start with some local anesthesia, making sure you're numb, very, very relaxed, and comfortable. Then we go in and remove any bad parts of your tooth, such as an old filling or cavities. We get all that cleaned up. Then we restore the tooth with a buildup material to build it back up.
After that, we reshape and prepare the tooth for the crown. We just need about a millimeter and a half of space for the crown. Then we go ahead and take a digital scan or a digital impression, which is some digital photos of your tooth, and then you leave with your new temporary crown.
We'll bring you back in and put the permanent crown in a few weeks after that.
Does it hurt to have a dental crown done?
The answer is, it shouldn't. Absolutely not. If your dentist is doing really good local anesthesia, which we're very serious about, you should not feel any discomfort during the procedure itself. It's normal to have a little bit of sensitivity after, but that usually will go away.
Are there any consequences for getting a dental crown?
No, there are no negative consequences with it. There's always a possibility that sometimes, when you get work done on a tooth, the tooth may become sensitive later on and require a root canal, but that's a pretty low chance.
Mainly, what we're doing with crowns is preventing problems. We're preventing that tooth from breaking in half, preventing that tooth from chipping, and preventing you from having pain. Cracks and other things are covered up so they don't cause a bigger problem for you.
Is it worth putting a dental crown on a child's tooth?
If the cavity is large enough, stainless steel crowns and other temporary crowns can be placed on children's teeth. We don't usually do permanent restorations or crowns on children's teeth unless they have a very, very large cavity. Yes, we can do dental crowns on kids, including permanent crowns, but we usually try to wait until they're adults.
Do dental crowns look like normal, real teeth?
Yes, they do. The restorations we use today are both very, very strong and also very, very aesthetic. We can get a great result and use a very biocompatible material that's going to look nice and be very long-term for you.
Can you get a cavity on a tooth with a crown on it?
The answer is yes, but it would be under the crown. The crown itself can't get a cavity, but if you don't brush your teeth or floss your teeth, you can develop a cavity under your crown on the root area or below the prep where the actual tooth is.
How should I take care of my dental crown?
It's very, very similar to taking care of any other tooth. We just want to make sure we're flossing and brushing, keeping things very, very clean and healthy. We also want to avoid any excess pressure on teeth. You want to avoid biting into things that are extremely hard, but you should be doing that with your real teeth anyway.
At Hillcrest Dental, you come first. Whether you need dental care or simply have questions, call us at (702) 707-6895 or email [email protected] to schedule your visit. Our team is here to help you every step of the way.