For patients who have suffered a cracked, broken or damaged tooth, a dental crown may be necessary to repair the damage and protect the tooth from further injury and preserve its usefulness in the mouth. Patients need crowns specifically if the tooth cannot be repaired by other dental procedures, such as fillings or bonding.
For example, if the tooth has decayed to the extent that there is not enough remaining structure to support a filling, then a crown will cap (crowns are often known as caps) the decaying tooth. After a root canal treatment a crown is often needed to strengthen the hollowed out tooth and if a fractured tooth is too badly damaged to be repaired by bonding, then a crown will be placed over the tooth to protect it and prevent further breaking.
Crowns are not necessarily the first option for the dentist. They will first always do all they can to save the existing tooth, because if a crown is necessary, the tooth must be ground down to allow the crown and cement to fit over the top of it. Once this has been done the tooth can never be repaired and a crown must be worn there for life. A crown is really the only option when the integrity of the tooth has been damaged beyond repair.
Crowns can be made from a variety of different materials. The more extraverted patient might opt for a gold crown, but they usually come as either porcelain or a porcelain-metal alloy, but all porcelain crowns usually provide the most realistic appearance.
Crowns are manufactured in the laboratory from molds of patients’ teeth made by the dentist. In recent years, dentists have been able to use computer technology and 3D imaging to construct incredibly accurate crowns in a fraction of the time. The crowns are then cemented over the pre-worn down tooth, hopefully fitting perfectly in the gap left by the old tooth. A City of Leeds dentist will be able to assess the damage to your tooth and if necessary design and construct a perfect porcelain crown for your mouth.
If looked after properly and thoroughly cleaned by brushing correctly twice a day and flossing once a day, a high quality dental crown will last between the and fifteen years.
Tags: dental bonding, dental crown, tooth decay
