Dental crowns are an effective solution to help enhance the aesthetics of your smile, yet there are certain pros and cons you should carefully consider before opting for one.
Crowns can protect weak teeth from breaking, hold together pieces of broken or chipped ones together and help balance out your bite. Your dentist can choose from various crown materials; porcelain and zirconia tend to be among the most reliable options.
Cost
An expensive dental crown procedure may not only protect against further damage and costly restorative treatments in the future, but can also relieve discomfort caused by decayed or fractured teeth.
Dependent upon your needs and budget, there are a range of dental crown options to suit every taste and need. Metal crowns offer strong durability but may be quite visible; porcelain fused-to-metal crowns have more natural looks, though these may still wear down or crack over time; zirconia crowns provide the highest level of strength, durability, and aesthetics; while zirconia crowns may cost the most but offer optimal strength as well as aesthetic qualities.
The cost of dental crowns will depend on several factors, including type, dentist and coverage by insurance. With insurance, costs could be covered up to 50%; to save even more money consider selecting a practice which works with your preferred provider organization (PPO). This may lower treatment expenses.
Durability
Dental crowns are an effective solution to treat cracked and damaged teeth by preventing further damage to them, replacing large fillings, and strengthening weak or decayed ones. Furthermore, they can prevent food particles from reaching the root of each tooth while keeping foodborne viruses and bacteria at bay; however, these temporary solutions will need replacing eventually.
Your choice of dental crown will significantly impact its durability. Resin crowns tend to wear down quickly due to biting and chewing forces, making them only suitable as temporary crowns. Furthermore, placement involves extracting significant portions of natural tooth structure in addition to removal.
Porcelain crowns can be made using different shades and translucencies of porcelain, creating the ideal color match and optical quality compared to your natural teeth. However, they’re not as durable as metal or ceramic crowns – although monolithic zirconia crowns (milled from one uniform block on a CAD/CAM machine) offer long lasting wear but have standard translucent shades which make matching them difficult.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity to dental crowns varies greatly among individuals, with discomfort often dissipating within days. Sensitivity often stems from irritation of soft materials in a tooth containing nerves and blood vessels – something that occurs when significant portions of tooth material are removed for crown placement.
Metal crowns tend to conduct temperature changes more efficiently than ceramic ones, and the condition of your tooth prior to treatment can play an influential role as well; significant decay or damage may cause nerves to become more sensitive, taking longer for their nerve endings to relax after crown placement.
After surgery, the best way to reduce post-procedure sensitivity is through proper oral hygiene: regular brushing and flossing as well as dental visits. You should also avoid clenching and grinding your teeth as this can worsen discomfort. If the discomfort does not subside promptly, consult with a dentist as soon as possible.
Appearance
Dental crowns are tooth-shaped caps fabricated and cemented onto damaged or broken teeth by your dentist, designed to strengthen them after fillings or root canals, improve appearance of misshapen and discolored teeth and protect cracked ones from further damage.
Based on your specific needs and preferences, your dentist Aurora may suggest different types of dental crowns. Metal crowns are strong and resilient against bite and chew forces. Unfortunately, however, their metallic color makes them more visible in your mouth compared to natural teeth.
Porcelain crowns are an aesthetic solution, offering increased durability while creating a natural-looking appearance. Furthermore, these biocompatible crowns won’t cause allergic reactions like metal crowns might do; our office offers CEREC AC porcelain and zirconia crowns for our patients’ convenience. These crowns differ from traditional moulds made using putty in that they are digitally designed and milled using a CEREC CAD/CAM machine in-house. This machine uses high-quality scanners to generate an accurate 3D model of your teeth and then uses materials like Zirconia or feldspathic porcelain (which has translucent qualities similar to natural tooth enamel) to craft custom crowns made for you. Although these crowns look the most natural, they may not provide sufficient support when subjected to significant bite force, or for patients who grind their teeth.
