What is a dental crown?
A dental crown is a cap that covers the tooth to protect the tooth from further breakdown.
Dental Crown Procedure
The tooth is shaved or prepared just enough to compensate for the material added back to the tooth. An impression is taken of the prepared tooth, and the temporary crown is made to last for one to two weeks until the permanent crown is fabricated from the dental lab. The more recent advance is the use of digital technology to capture the tooth’s image and make the crown the same day. The permanent crown is made to look like the natural tooth.
Applications of Dental Crown
When you have a large Dental Filling or broken tooth, the crown protects the remaining weak tooth structure. The larger the filling, the weaker the remaining tooth structure, more likely the remaining tooth structure will break. With aging, there is more wear and tear from chewing, grinding, acidic food, making the teeth weaker. Any back tooth with a root canal should be crowned as the chance of fracture is more than 50%.
- Cracked Tooth
- Large Dental Fillings
- Root Canal Treatment
- Better Esthetic for the Front Tooth
- Closed the Space between Teeth
- To Improve the Bite
- Dental Implant
Types of Dental Crowns
Crown has been around since ancient times. The modern crown’s history started at the beginning of 1900; crowns have evolved from multi appointment to single appointment or same-day crown.
Traditional Dental Crowns
- Full Metal
- Poor Esthetics
- Will not break, can last for life
- Use for back teeth
- Porcelain
- Weakest
- Good esthetics
- Porcelain fused to Metal
Modern Dental Crowns
- Zirconia
- Very strong
- Good esthetics
- Good for back teeth
- Cannot bond, therefore, not good for short teeth
- Lithium disilicate
- Fair strength
- Very good esthetics
- Good for front teeth
Cost of a Dental Crown
A dental crown’s price depends on the quality and type of the material used and how it is fabricated (in-office or sent to a lab). In general, the cost of a dental crown ranges between $800-$1600.