A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap placed over a tooth, which provides covering to the tooth to restore its shape, size, strength, and to improve its appearance. Once a crown is cemented in its place, it fully encases the entire visible portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line.
Below is some general information on
porcelain dental crowns and how they can benefit you.
What is a dental crown?
A dental crown is either built of a metal or a base metal alloy. The metals used for building crowns include alloys made of gold and other alloys and in base metal alloy nickel or chromium is used. When a metal crown is used the tooth structure needing removal is minimal, and the opposite tooth also experiences minimum tooth wearing. Metal crowns have the longest life and they rarely chip or break. The only deterrent factor in metallic crowns is the color which does not match the normal color of the teeth. It is a good option for out-of-sight molars.
What can dental crowns do?
There are quite a lot of situations that require application of dental crowns. It helps in protecting a weak tooth or binds together the parts of a cracked tooth. It helps in restoring a tooth that has already been broken or has weathered down significantly.
Dental crowns facilitate in provide coverage and support to a tooth with a large filling, when the original tooth has considerably diminished in size. Dental crowns also help in providing support to a
dental bridge and facilitate in covering misshaped or severely discolored teeth.
Cost of Dental Crowns
Cost of a dental crown depends upon the choice of alloy that is being used. The crowns made of gold or palladium would be costliest followed by those of nickel or chromium. Dental crowns made of porcelain fused to metal are cheaper than metallic crown while the crowns made of resin are the cheapest. The cost however also has to be analyzed in context of the longevity of the crown as well.
To learn more about dental crowns and other dental treatments such as
teeth whitening,
dental implants, and
porcelain veneers, we encourage you to visit our
cosmetic dentistry office near Houston.