Dental crowns are commonly used during many different dental applications. Nevertheless, many people know little about these dental devices. Here is a bit of information about dental crowns and their uses:
What are dental crowns made of?
Dental crowns can be made from a number of materials, such as porcelain, metal alloy, stainless steel, resin, porcelain-over-metal or even gold. The crown material must be durable enough to withstand normal bite pressure from mastication. Each material has its own benefits.
Porcelain, resin, and porcelain-over-metal are white, so they tend to look like natural tooth enamel. Porcelain is even luminous like enamel. The porcelain alone can be abrasive against enamel, so porcelain-over-metal is sometimes preferred. Resin is a type of plastic and is generally not abrasive against the teeth but may wear away more quickly than porcelain or other materials.
Metal alloy and stainless steel are not white and therefore may be more suitable for back teeth. Stainless steel crowns are also often applied to primary teeth since they will be eventually shed. The stainless steel requires little preparation for placement and can be positioned during a single appointment.
How are crowns made?
For porcelain, resin, and porcelain-over-metal crowns, a mold of your mouth is made before the crowns can be fabricated. The mold is used to guide the shape and size of the crown. Porcelain, resin and porcelain-over-metal crowns are usually made in a dental laboratory. Thus, they may require a couple of dental visits for placement.
In some instances, dental offices have CAD/CAM machines that permit the fabrication of a crown onsite during a single visit. The machine uses computerized images to design a dental crown that fits your mouth. Then the fabrication instructions are sent to a milling machine that produces the crown.
Stainless steel and other metal crowns can be mechanically molded around the desired tooth by the dentist.
When are dental crowns used?
Dental crowns are often used to repair teeth that have incurred a chip, crack or other damage. They are also used to cover teeth that have received extensive dental treatments, such as root canals. They may also be applied to teeth that have large cavities.
The crowns protect teeth from further damage and offer additional fortification when structural integrity has been compromised.
To learn more about dental crowns and whether or not they are appropriate for your mouth, schedule an appointment with a local dentist, like one from Leidenheimer Dental Group Inc.
Share15 December 2016
The average dentist takes many client appointments each day and also deals with emergency situations on a regular basis. Dental emergencies are very common because people are likely to put off having tooth pain fixed until the pain becomes unbearable. Some people have anxiety about dental visits, and others are trying to avoid the expense of dental care. In either case, the end result is often a dental emergency. I have worked as a professional dental hygienist for many years and have seen all types of dental emergencies. I hope that this blog will help people identify potential emergencies before they become too serious and will allow people to know when to get help.
