A Complete Guide on the 3 Basic Types of Dental Crowns and Their Benefits

When it comes to tooth repair and reconstruction, there are many reasons why dental crowns are a popular choice. To help you understand their benefits, below is a list of the basic types of dental crowns in Wellesley, MA, along with FAQs about each one.

Dental Crowns: An Overview

A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap that fully caps or covers a damaged tooth, hence its name. Crowns are typically manufactured from various materials, including porcelain, porcelain fused to metal, metal, ceramic, stainless steel, and resin. These materials are chosen depending on the durability, quality, and aesthetic desired.

If tooth decay and cavities have spread far and wide across your pearly whites, and fillings no longer suffice to solve these problems, it is probably best to start considering a tooth cap procedure.

Why Dental Crowns?

• The Procedure Is Simple 

No need to sit in the dentist’s chair for hours on end, only to return for more visits in the weeks to come. It just takes an hour or two until the crown is formed at our dental office in Wellesley, MA.

Afterward, it’s ready to be cemented into place. Even when done with care and caution, the cementing process does not take long. The entire dental procedure usually takes no more than four hours. It may take less time if the number of teeth to be capped is minimal, and the damages are not too severe.

• Natural Tooth Restoration 

One of the most widely known advantages of dental crowns is that they are a natural-looking dental restoration. They are fashioned in a manner in which the crowns themselves are contoured, buffed, and polished to resemble real teeth.

If you opt for resin or porcelain crowns, their color can be blended to match the hues of your surrounding teeth.

• Custom-Made 

The beauty about tooth caps is that they are customized for each patient, according to previous tooth damage or condition. Our dentist can adjust the tooth cap to ensure that it will not cause discomfort around your mouth nor impair your bite.

There is hardly any adjustment period with dental crowns, unlike other tooth repair options. Your dentist can modify them to your tooth, gum, and mouth accordingly.

3 Basic Types of Dental Crowns

• Porcelain Fused-To-Metal 

Referred to as PFM crowns, these are a popular tooth repair option. Think of these as a blend of both porcelain and metal. Metal, for resilience and as a safeguard against wear-and-tear. Porcelain, as a gorgeous coat for the cap itself.

To put the resilience of porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns into perspective, studies show that they can potentially last for as long as half a century!

Furthermore, the materials are more economical compared to that of other dental crown categories.

• Porcelain

A porcelain crown, or an “all-porcelain” tooth cap, is different from the first precisely because it is not fused with various materials. This ceramic dental cap is also gaining popularity as it is among the most similar in appearance to real teeth.

The quality of material and the dental prosthetic technician’s craftsmanship and skill need to be above average, with porcelain crowns. These caps are very carefully and skillfully made so that nobody will be able to tell them apart from your natural ivories.

For this reason, a ceramic tooth cap is often costlier than its contemporaries, yet its value is worth its price.

• Gold, Silver, Or Stainless Steel

Gold, silver, and/or stainless-steel crowns are not exactly of pure origins (especially the first two mentioned) but are an amalgamation of metals like copper, chromium, and/or nickel. And just like what you know of metals, gold crowns are durable and long-lasting.

Teeth restoration operations for the molars sometimes utilize gold crowns. Your back-teeth receive the most chewing force since food is broken down organically, quickly, and easily using the first, second, and third molars.

On the other hand, the position of molars, being that they are at the “back” of your jawline and mouth, are skewed away from the vision of people you speak with and meet. Having a silver cap or a gold crown around your molar is not going to be an issue whenever you flash your smile.

For more information about dental crowns or to schedule a consultation with our dentist at Wellesley Dental Arts and give a call.