Crown is a full coverage “cap” that surrounds the entire tooth structure for full support.
Why Do I need a Crown?
Crown is needed for various reasons:
To restore a fractured tooth like in the photo below.
This tooth broke because an existing large filling fractured when the patient was eating.
If your tooth has an existing large filling that shows signs of wear (fracture lines, leaky margins allowing food debris to seep into the internal layer of the tooth).
Large fillings weaken the teeth and make them susceptible to fracture.
If your tooh has a large cavity that undermines majority of tooth structure
If you’ve had a root canal on a tooth
To cover discolored or mis-shaped teeth.
This patient came to see Dr. Nilay Shah for a consultation to fix her discolored and fractured front teeth. The patient also wanted to close the “gap” between her front two teeth.
Photo taken after her front four teeth were restored with All-Ceramic Crowns (no metal).
What material is used to make the Crowns?
Drs Nilay & Radhika Shah will consider the look and function of a crown when choosing the material most suitable for you.
Some factors that are taken into consideration are:
Tooth location
Position of the gum tissue
Amount of tooth that shows when you smile
Color or shade of the tooth
function of the tooth
There are different types of materials used for a crown:
All-Ceramic:
Porcelain crowns with NO METAL. All ceramic crowns have a porcelain core, which facilitates a highly esthetic match.
Porcelain Fused to Metal (PFM)
Tooth colored porcelain with underlying metal support
Gold Crown
Gold is an excellent material of choice when deciding what material to use for a crown. If used with care, gold is considered to have the greatest longevity of any restorative material used in dentistry. However, gold crowns have lessened in popularity over the last 20 years because of the increased emphasis on esthetics and demand for tooth-colored restorations.
* All photos on this page are of Dr. Shah’s actual patients.
