A crown, or more correctly a cast restoration, is one of the ways your dentist can rebuild a broken down tooth. Crowns offer greater strength than simple fillings and also help to protect the tooth from further damage.
There are many types of ‘crown’ available, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they are made by a dental technician, from impressions that the dentist takes of your mouth.
Crowns can be made to look like natural teeth using porcelains and special white filling materials or they can be made of gold. If a crown covers the whole of the tooth, like a crash helmet, it is usually called a full crown. Some times it is not necessary to cover the whole tooth in which case the crown is called a partial crown or an onlay. Again these can be made of gold or porcelain.
FAQs
My tooth has cracked, can it be saved?
Cracked teeth are usually restored with some form of cast restoration, as they need extra support. At StoneRock, once we have seen the tooth and taken an x-ray to determine how bad the fracture is, we will discuss with you the various types of crown available and which one we feel would be most appropriate.
I want to have a porcelain crown, but my dentist says I should have a gold one. Why?
Gold metal crowns or onlays are usually much thinner than the porcelain ones, so we can drill away far less tooth when we are preparing it for a crown. This is very important when we are dealing with teeth that are already heavily filled as they will have lost a great deal of tooth tissue in the past and cannot afford to loose much more.
Not only are gold crowns thinner they are stronger too. Porcelain looks beautiful in the mouth and can create incredible aesthetics but it can chip or fracture. This is a particular risk if there is stray nut or seed in the mouth that gets bitten on unexpectedly.
Why does a crown cost so much more than a filling?
A crown is often seen as a greater investment in the health of the mouth, as they can last so much longer than a filling would in the same tooth. The fees charged for a crown reflect the extra time involved with dentist and the laboratory charges incurred to have it made by the dental technician.
Will the dentist be able to match the crown to the rest of my teeth?
When we use porcelain crowns to restore teeth we take great care to make sure that they blend in to give an entirely natural smile. At StoneRock we work with very skilled technicians who can create stunning results using the most modern techniques available. Some of the newer porcelains allow us to bond the porcelain directly to the tooth so there is no visible ‘join’. These techniques allow us to be kind to the tooth whilst still providing very strong crowns that look beautiful.
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For more information or to book an appointment at our dentist practice in Kent please contact our Reception Team on 01580 752202 or info@stonerock.co.uk and they will be very happy to help.