All You Need to Know About Dental Crowns — Types, Procedures, and After-Care
Do you have a damaged tooth from decay without sufficient tooth structure remaining, and your dentist recommends restoring it with a dental crown? You might wonder why the dentist recommends a dental crown instead of merely filling the tooth with metal fillers. However, you will undoubtedly change your mind with information that dental crowns protect your teeth better than dental fillings by encasing them entirely, providing comprehensive protection to your tooth.
The dentist in Daphne recommends dental crowns to restore severely damaged teeth from decay or plain overuse overtime to restore the tooth’s shape, strength, size, and appearance. It indicates that besides protecting the tooth from additional damage, the dentist ensures the restoration allows you the freedom to have the foods you love, smile without hesitation, and continue with your everyday activities unhindered. Would you like to learn more about dental crowns? Please continue reading on why recommendations for these restorations are suggested by dentists.
Why Prefer a Dental Crown Instead of Fillings?
The choice of whether you prefer dental fillings or will adhere to your dentist’s advice to have a dental crown may be beyond your understanding. If you have a tooth with excessive decay and without sufficient tooth structure, you might think metal fillings will help restore the tooth. Unfortunately, if the rot has weakened the tooth, you will likely not benefit from fillers but require additional protection from a dental crown covering the tooth entirely. Dental crowns are unlike fillings placed inside a tooth but resemble tooth-shaped caps fitted over the tooth as a restorative measure. Cementing the crown over your natural tooth to cover its visible portion provides better protection than fillings. Therefore you help yourself by preferring to have a dental crown instead of fillings.
After accepting the dentist’s suggestion to have your tooth restored with a dental crown, you might begin searching for dental crowns near me to determine what kind of restoration you can have over your tooth. Instead of deciding which dental crown you must have, it helps you consider the location of the tooth needing the crown, your budget, geographical location, and the expertise of the dentist you are seeking the restoration from.
What Types of Crowns Are Available?
Various materials help make dental crowns to cover your decayed or damaged tooth. If you discuss your needs with the Daphne dentist, the professional offers a variety of dental crowns made from metal, porcelain fused to metal, all-ceramic or all-porcelain, and pressed ceramic.
If you want the best dental crown near me, you must adhere to the dentist’s advice who recommends metal crowns for your molars and porcelain fused to metal crowns for your front teeth. Metal crowns are incredibly durable and rarely chip or crack and withstand the biting forces. Porcelain fused to metal crowns are also durable and is an excellent choice for front or back teeth.
The Dental Crown Procedure
The dental crown procedure typically requires two visits to the Daphne dentist to prepare your teeth for restoration. The process will likely cause discomfort when the dentist prepares your teeth by filing the tops and sides to accommodate the restoration. However, you don’t experience any pain after receiving local anesthesia in the mouth. Dental crowns are not over-the-counter restorations but are customized by dental laboratories after the dentist impressions your prepared teeth and sends over an impression to them. Dental laboratories require approximately three weeks to fabricate your restoration. Meanwhile, you receive temporary crowns over the prepared tooth for protection.
You can have your permanent dental crown bonded over your prepared tooth during your second visit to the dentist’s office and have your damaged tooth fixed with a long-lasting restoration.
Caring for Your Dental Crown
Dental crowns don’t require special care besides maintaining excellent dental hygiene and visiting your dentist for six-monthly exams and cleanings. However, it helps if you remember the underlying tooth beneath the crown needs protection from tooth decay and gum disease. Therefore you must exercise caution to stay away from these infections and remember to brush and floss your teeth as suggested by your dentist. If you have porcelain crowns, please avoid biting on hard surfaces or trying to open packages for fear of cracking the porcelain crown.
If you are convinced that dental crowns help protect your teeth better, please contact Milestone Family Dentistry to have your decayed or damaged tooth restored today.