Cosmetic Dentistry Directory Blog
Cosmetic Dentistry Directory
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Benefits of Dental Crowns
Most of us have tooth fillings done at some point in our lives. In past years, the next step for repairing a decayed tooth when a filling was not enough, was a dental crown. Since the rise of cosmetic dentistry, we have an intermediate step between fillings and crowns - dental onlays.
Inlays are smaller than onlays and are a type of white filling. But onlays are larger, restoring the tooth within its cusps and also on one or more of its outside surfaces. They are made of porcelain and can hold a damaged tooth together strongly, preserving the remaining tooth tissue and supplementing it with matching pearly porcelain.
However, there may come a time when even an onlay cannot restore a tooth and then it is time to consider a dental crown. A crown will provide new surfaces for the entire tooth, enclosing it protectively and extending its life.
Traditionally, crowns were made of a gold alloy and you can still have that done, but now that we have become more familiar with cosmetic dentistry, most of us prefer a white crown to match the rest of our teeth. That is done using dental porcelain.
By itself, porcelain is brittle. For greater strength and durability, a porcelain crown is given a lining. Crown linings can be made of metal and that has been done for many years now. The disadvantage of that shows up after your porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crown has been in place for ten years or longer. As we age, our gums slowly recede a little, exposing some of the tooth root. When the tooth has a PFM crown, that gum recession exposes the metal lining and it looks like a black line along the crown's edge.
A cosmetically more attractive solution is to line the crown with zirconia. That is a white, ceramic type of substance that gives added strength and durability without appearing like a black line later on. It may become visible through gum recession, but will be white, and therefore not visible apart from the tooth itself.
A well-done dental crown can last a lifetime. You would need to give it good daily care to prevent bacteria from spreading underneath it. Porcelain does not lose its pleasing white color and it gives excellent chewing surfaces.
To find a qualified cosmetic dentist in your area, please use the map below or just send us an email.
Inlays are smaller than onlays and are a type of white filling. But onlays are larger, restoring the tooth within its cusps and also on one or more of its outside surfaces. They are made of porcelain and can hold a damaged tooth together strongly, preserving the remaining tooth tissue and supplementing it with matching pearly porcelain.
However, there may come a time when even an onlay cannot restore a tooth and then it is time to consider a dental crown. A crown will provide new surfaces for the entire tooth, enclosing it protectively and extending its life.
Traditionally, crowns were made of a gold alloy and you can still have that done, but now that we have become more familiar with cosmetic dentistry, most of us prefer a white crown to match the rest of our teeth. That is done using dental porcelain.
By itself, porcelain is brittle. For greater strength and durability, a porcelain crown is given a lining. Crown linings can be made of metal and that has been done for many years now. The disadvantage of that shows up after your porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crown has been in place for ten years or longer. As we age, our gums slowly recede a little, exposing some of the tooth root. When the tooth has a PFM crown, that gum recession exposes the metal lining and it looks like a black line along the crown's edge.
A cosmetically more attractive solution is to line the crown with zirconia. That is a white, ceramic type of substance that gives added strength and durability without appearing like a black line later on. It may become visible through gum recession, but will be white, and therefore not visible apart from the tooth itself.
A well-done dental crown can last a lifetime. You would need to give it good daily care to prevent bacteria from spreading underneath it. Porcelain does not lose its pleasing white color and it gives excellent chewing surfaces.
To find a qualified cosmetic dentist in your area, please use the map below or just send us an email.
posted by
Tiffany
at
8:14 AM
<< Home