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Key Takeaways

• Dental crowns are tooth-shaped caps that protect damaged teeth from cracks, decay or after root canal treatments.
• Dentists use porcelain crowns for front teeth due to their natural look, gold crowns for strength in back teeth and zirconia crowns for both strength and looks.
• Crowns help restore normal chewing, fix discoloured or chipped teeth, ease sensitivity and prevent further damage.
• Good oral care helps your dental crown last between 5 to 15 years without needing more dentist visits.

What Are Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are caps that fit over damaged teeth to protect and strengthen them. These tooth-shaped caps restore the visible part of your tooth above the gumline. A dentist may use materials such as porcelain crowns, gold crowns, or zirconia crowns to create these covers in a dental laboratory.

After placing them with strong dental cement onto a prepared tooth surface, they can improve appearance and oral health. Dental crowns replace lost tooth enamel caused by decay or injury, giving your teeth lasting protection from further harm like cavities and tooth sensitivity.

When Do You Need a Dental Crown?

A dental crown can protect your tooth and boost oral health. Dentists suggest crowns if teeth become weak, damaged or worn from decay or injury.

Cracked, fractured, or broken teeth

Teeth can crack or break from biting hard food, grinding teeth at night, impacts to the mouth, or ageing. Cracked and fractured teeth cause tooth sensitivity and can become painful if ignored.

Broken tooth enamel leads to severe tooth decay or infection if you leave it untreated. Dental crowns protect damaged teeth by placing a strong porcelain crown or zirconia crown over them.

Dentists use dental impressions to shape these caps at a dental laboratory for a perfect fit on your damaged tooth. Fixing cracks early helps prevent worse problems like root canal treatment, serious oral health issues, or even losing your natural tooth through extraction.

Large fillings or weakened teeth

Large fillings weaken the tooth structure. Big fillings can lead to cracked, fractured or broken teeth over time. Damaged teeth are prone to severe tooth decay and sensitive teeth issues.

Dental crowns help protect a damaged tooth weakened by large dental fillings. The crown forms a strong outer layer around your natural tooth enamel; it shields your tooth from harm and restores strength.

Porcelain crowns, gold crowns or zirconia crowns fit securely with dental cement prepared in a dental laboratory by skilled dental technicians.

After a root canal treatment

Teeth with large fillings can become weak or damaged. Root canal treatments also weaken teeth, because the dental procedure involves removing infected tissue inside the tooth. Without this living pulp, the tooth becomes brittle and prone to breaking.

A dental crown is a strong tooth-shaped cap placed over your treated tooth by a dentist using dental cement. The crown helps protect weakened enamel and stops further cracking or breakage during chewing or teeth grinding.

Porcelain crowns, zirconia crowns and gold crowns are common examples that restore strength after root canal therapy; they help avoid future dental procedures like tooth extraction or needing a dental implant later on.

Severe tooth decay or advanced cavities

After root canal treatment, severe tooth decay can still leave your tooth weak. Advanced cavities often cause too much harm to fix with fillings alone. The decay eats away at the tooth enamel and may infect deep into the dental pulp inside.

Dentists use dental crowns as a solution in these cases. A crown is a strong, tooth-shaped cap placed over the damaged tooth to cover and protect decayed areas. This keeps out harmful bacteria that form from dental plaque and helps prevent further oral health issues such as gum disease or painful infections needing antibiotics or even tooth extraction later on.

Tooth discolouration or cosmetic concerns

Teeth can become stained from smoking, drinking coffee or tea, and certain foods. Some teeth may get darker due to problems that started when the tooth was forming during childhood.

Porcelain crowns and zirconia crowns help cover up tooth discolouration to improve your dental health and smile. For people with cosmetic concerns such as chipped or oddly shaped teeth, dental crowns reshape these damaged teeth into a nicer form.

Crowns fit snugly like a cap over your natural tooth enamel with strong dental cement. They give your mouth a clean, healthy look without needing treatments like porcelain veneers or regular teeth whitening sessions.

Here are some common types of dental crowns you can choose from for fixing different issues.

Types of Dental Crowns

Dental crowns come in different materials to suit each patient’s tooth condition and oral health needs. The right crown for you depends on strength, looks and placement in your mouth.

Porcelain crowns

Porcelain crowns are tooth-shaped caps made to look like real teeth. They are often used on front teeth due to their natural appearance. Porcelain blends well with your other teeth, which helps improve tooth discolouration and makes your smile bright again.

These crowns are less durable in high-stress areas compared to metal or zirconia crowns. Yet porcelain is still strong enough for normal biting and chewing. Your dentist will attach the crown using dental cement after careful tooth reshaping and preparation of the damaged tooth.

Next, we explore gold crowns as another choice for dental restoration.

Gold crowns

Gold crowns are strong dental caps made from gold mixed with other metals. Dentists often use them for less visible back teeth due to their strength and long-lasting quality. Gold crowns protect your damaged tooth after a root canal treatment or severe tooth decay.

They help prevent further harm and reduce teeth sensitivity, making chewing comfortable again. Gold is durable but stands out more than porcelain crowns or zirconia ones. People who want a natural look usually choose ceramic crowns instead of metal crowns like gold.

Zirconia crowns

Unlike gold crowns, zirconia crowns match the colour of your natural teeth. Made from zirconium dioxide, they are strong and last long. Zirconia crowns suit visible areas like front teeth because they look real and enhance appearance.

Dentists often use CAD/CAM technology to create these dental crowns with accuracy in a dental laboratory. These tooth-shaped caps help protect decayed or damaged tooth enamel after treatments such as root canal treatment or tooth reshaping procedures.

Zirconia takes care of tooth discolouration issues and reduces tooth sensitivity by acting as an effective shield for weakened teeth.

Temporary crowns

Temporary crowns are short-term tooth-shaped caps placed after tooth preparation. They give tooth protection and help lessen tooth sensitivity until your permanent dental crowns are ready.

Usually, temporary crowns come from a dental laboratory or get shaped at your dentist’s office using plastic resin. Your dentist attaches them with dental cement; this makes removal easy when the lasting crown arrives.

During this time, keep up good oral hygiene, brush your teeth gently twice daily with fluoride toothpaste, and avoid very hard foods to protect the soft resin crowns from cracks or damage.

Benefits of Dental Crowns

Dental crowns improve oral health by restoring tooth function and strength. They boost your confidence through better appearance and comfort.

Restores function and durability

Crowns fix a damaged tooth and restore normal chewing. They strengthen cracked, fractured, or weakened teeth after root canal treatment or severe tooth decay. Crowns last 5 to 15 years depending on type and oral care practice.

Metal crowns have the longest lifespan due to strength against biting force and daily wear. Porcelain crowns look natural while zirconia crowns offer both strength and good appearance for restoring function and durability.

With proper dental cement fitting from a trusted dental laboratory, tooth sensitivity reduces and mouth soreness eases quickly.

As well as improving function, crowns can also boost your smile’s look; enhancing appearance boosts confidence in everyday life activities too!

Enhances appearance and confidence

Dental crowns help improve your smile and confidence. Porcelain crowns and zirconia crowns blend smoothly with natural teeth to fix tooth discolouration or damaged teeth. This dental restoration covers decayed teeth, broken enamel, or large fillings that look unpleasant.

Ceramic crowns match the colour of your other teeth to keep a healthy appearance. These tooth-shaped caps restore oral health, boost self-esteem, and let you speak without worry. Fixing stained or chipped front teeth can make daily life easier at work and in social events by giving you peace of mind about how you look.

Protects and preserves natural teeth

A crown does more than improve tooth colour or boost how your smile looks; it also protects and preserves natural teeth. Crowns act as tooth-shaped caps, covering damaged, cracked, or decayed teeth to protect them against further decay and infection.

They seal off weakened areas of the tooth enamel, preventing harmful bacteria from causing cavities or severe harm.

By strengthening your existing tooth structure with materials such as porcelain crowns, zirconia crowns, gold crowns, or ceramic crowns; you maintain the normal function of chewing and speaking clearly.

This dental procedure helps avoid serious oral health problems like root canal treatment or even tooth extraction later on. Keeping natural teeth safe is always better than needing replacements like dental implants in future years.

Conclusion

Dental crowns help protect weak teeth and restore your smile. They fix cracked teeth, severe decay or improve tooth colour. Porcelain, gold, and zirconia crowns can cater to various dental needs and budgets.

Lethbridge Dental in Penrith offers premium cosmetic dental procedures to transform your smile in no time be it crowns, veneers or implants. You can book your appointment online here.