Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are a particular type of “indirect” way to fix a tooth. They completely envelop a tooth to the gum level like a sleeve over the whole tooth. These are reserved for particularly broken down teeth and are the ultimate way to strengthen a badly broken tooth as best as possible bearing in mind, any dental work is only as good as the tooth in which it is placed. They are custom made in a dental laboratory and can be made of a variety of different materials such as the traditional gold as well as more modern porcelain tooth coloured crowns. They can be used for cosmetic enhancement of the teeth and can often last very well especially if well looked after.
However, their one drawback is that if any further damage occurs to the tooth underneath it is, more often than not impossible to repair that tooth again. Also they are more costly than a regular filling but will serve to protect a structurally compromised tooth (such as back one with a large amalgam filling in it), whereas a filling cannot. Opting for a filling as a compromise option when a crown is the best option could result in a catastrophic failure of the tooth, meaning it isn’t able to be fixed at all, even with a crown. Fillings in these situations tend not too last very long especially compared to a crown, making a crown actually a more cost effective and better option in the long run. Having a crown put on your tooth will ensure it continues to serve you as long as it possibly can.
People choose to have dental crowns for a number of reasons. It may be due to decay that has permanently eroded parts of their teeth, to protect a weak tooth from breaking or to hold together parts of a cracked tooth. Other cases may be an accident or to restore a broken worn tooth, support a tooth with a large filling when there isn’t a lot of tooth left and cover misshaped or discoloured teeth.
There are also a host of different materials you can choose from for your dental crowns talk to us about what options are best for your teeth.