Dental Crown
A dental crown covers a tooth and restores it to its normal shape and size. It can cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there isn’t enough natural tooth left. It can be used to attach a bridge, protect a weak tooth from breaking, or restore one that’s already broken. They are also used to cover dental implants.
If you are getting a crown (cap) with today’s technology you have 1 of 3 options.
1. Full gold crown non-esthetic / very strong / small amount reduction needed .5-1mm
2. Porcelain fused to metal esthetic / strong / medium reduction 1.5mm
3. All Porcelain somewhat(1) to highly(2) esthetic / very strong(1) to strong(2) / small(1) to medium(2) reduction .5-2mm there are several types of porcelain ranging from ones with #1 qualities to #2 qualities
The vast majority of crowns done in the U.S. are porcelain fused to metal, although with advances in materials more and more are all porcelain. We have moved on to doing a majority of the crowns in all porcelain; with a material called lithium disilicate or e.max.
The farther back in your mouth a tooth is the more force that you put on that tooth and the stronger it needs to be. Also the farther back it is the shorter the tooth tends to be, thus sometimes ruling out anything but a full gold crown. If you are a grinder or a clencher you will want a stronger crown. The main esthetic disadvantage of porcelain to metal crowns is the black or dark line that shows along the gum line as you get older and the gums recede a little. You can see this easily on crown #2 and just barely on crown #3. Our fees are the same for all types of crown.
We can recommend a type of crown for you but what you want is very important to us. We will not let you make a choice that is contra-indicated and/or has a high chance of failing/breaking in your particular case.
Below is a picture of three of the more popular options available today. This dentistry was done by Dr. Dettmer and Dr. Bauer over a significant number of years. There are four crowns on these teeth. 1 full gold crown 2 and 3 porcelain fused to metal 4 all-porcelain.
This set-up is fairly ideal as the strength of these crowns goes from strongest to weakest back to front and least esthetic to most back to front.
