Who Needs a Dental Crown? Everything You Need to Know

Do you ever wonder what makes people special enough to get dental crowns? Even though dental crowns are common for restorative dentistry, not every patient should have them. Dental crowns are important for restoring teeth structures to increase the life of a natural tooth.

What Is a Dental Crown?

It is a dental restoration in dentistry that repairs and restored damaged teeth structures. Dental crowns in Coopersburg, PA, are tooth-shaped dental applications created in dental laboratories as a solid piece. A dental crown typically covers the whole top part of a tooth, encapsulating it as a dental cap. The idea is to restore the framework of a tooth’s external structure, ensuring it remains intact and healthy in the jawbone.

Types of Dental Crowns

Dental crowns feature different types of materials. The material in use determines the type of dental crowns. The common types include the following:

1. Gold dental crowns – feature gold as the primary component of the metal alloy. Gold dental crowns make for sturdy dental caps, perfect for restoring molars and premolars.
2. Porcelain-fused-to-metal – other than just metal, these crowns are partly porcelain. The porcelain is laced with the metal underneath. It means they have a more natural color than metal dental crowns.
3. Porcelain dental crowns – are fully made of tooth-colored porcelain. They are the most common types of dental crowns, praised for their aesthetic benefits.

Understanding the Process of Getting Dental Crowns

A tooth crown requires significant preparation of your natural tooth before installation. The steps of the procedure include the following:

1. Numbing – the dentist will use local anesthesia to numb your mouth. The numbing will ensure you remain comfortable throughout your treatment, having a painless experience.
2. Cleaning the tooth – the bacteria and damaged part of the tooth is the reasons you need a dental crown in the first place. The dentist will drill out all the damage on your tooth. While at it, the dentist will remove as much tooth enamel as necessary to make room for the dental crown.
3. Taking impressions – using dental putty, the dentist will take impressions of your tooth, creating a mold. The mold will provide the measurements that will guide the creation of your porcelain crown.
4. Temporary crowning – the preparation of a dental crown takes time. Therefore, you will need a temporary tooth crown over the tooth, protecting it, as your dentist works on the permanent crown. The process takes about two weeks, which will be the amount of time you will have the temporary crown.
5. Installation – your dentist will place the permanent crown over the tooth on the last dental visit. The process entails using dental cement. UV light or lasers are necessary for curing the dental cement, bonding the crown to the tooth.

Who Needs a Dental Crown?

When you visit us at Coopersburg Dental, you may not be certain about the type of restorative procedure you need to treat your oral problem. Usually, it takes a comprehensive dental exam for a dentist to determine that you require a dental crown. The good news is that anyone can get dental crowns regardless of their age as long as you have any of the following dental issues:

1. Crowning a dental implant – tooth implants replace missing teeth from the root upward. After receiving a dental implant, you need another dental restoration to crown the implant. Typically, dental crowns serve this purpose, unless in cases of multiple tooth replacements.
2. Making a dental bridge – a traditional bridgework for replacing teeth cannot be complete without a dental crown. Dental crowns support the abutment, the artificial tooth for replacing the lost one.
3. After a root canal – is an endodontic procedure that treats the insides of your tooth to preserve it. However, after such an invasive treatment, your structure may need reinforcement from a dental crown to maintain a strong tooth structure.
4. Weak tooth – dental crowns are common for strengthening weak teeth, typically due to enamel thinning or other dental issues.
5. Holding a tooth filling – when the size of tooth filling is too big that it may compromise the structure of your tooth, a dental crown helps reinforce its strength.