Is A Dental Crown Right For You?

If you had some tooth damage recently, then you might have looked into getting a crown. Crowns can be extremely useful, but they are not necessarily viable for every situation. To help you figure out whether a crown is right for you, here is an explanation of how they work:

What is a crown?

In simple terms, a crown is a device that is used to restore a tooth by covering the top and replacing any missing sections. They are meant to completely restore the original shape and strength of a tooth, but each case is different, which is why the crown will need to be made and molded to fit the precise shape of your tooth.

Crowns are similar to fillings, but are much larger and sturdier. One way of thinking about the differences between the two is by imagining a tooth as a brick wall. Fillings are like mortar that can be used to fill in missing gaps, while crowns are more similar to bricks, being large, strong, and critical to the foundation of the wall.

What does the installation process look like?

When getting a crown installed, there are essentially two parts to the process. You will first need to get the tooth cleaned and prepared for the crown, at which point your dentist is going to take some careful measurements of the tooth. These measurements will be sent to a production facility, where the crown will be molded and built.

However, you will have a hard time functioning with a missing tooth while waiting for the crown to be built and shipped, so your dentist will likely give you a temporary crown in the meantime. A temporary crown won't fit perfectly and won't be as comfortable as the real deal, but it will help protect your tooth in the meantime.

What are the different types of materials that are used for crowns?

Crowns are often made of metal, resin, or porcelain, with each offering a different degree of strength at a different cost.

 

  • Metal tends to be cheap and strong, but it does have the drawback of being very obvious. If you want to get a long-lasting crown at a low cost and don't worry about the appearance of the crown, then metal is a good choice.

  • Resin is the opposite, offering a very natural appearance at a low cost, with the drawback of being pretty flimsy. A resin crown might not last you as long as other options, but if you want to cover up the fact that you have a crown, while still saving money, then resin is a good choice.

  • Finally, you have porcelain, which will likely almost exactly like the real deal. Porcelain is very durable, but also very expensive, so if you are interested in the best that you can buy, then this is a good choice.

For more information, contact  companies like Village Family Dental.


Share