What Are Dental Crowns and Are They Effective?

Your teeth size, color, and shape can change due to many factors including old age, dental trauma, tooth decay, periodontal disease, and the acidic foods and beverages you have consumed. If there’s significant tooth damage, your dentist might recommend getting a dental crown. A dental crown is a tooth-colored, shaped hat-like cap placed over the damaged tooth to fix or cover the damage.

While dental crowns are highly effective, they are not suitable for all tooth damage. For this reason, if you’re considering a dental crown, you should begin by visiting your dentist for a dental assessment. The dentist will review your condition and determine whether you’re an ideal candidate for dental crowns or not. For minor teeth cracks or chips, dental procedures like veneers, bonding, and inlays & onlays are the most cost-effective.

Why would I need a dental crown?

There are many reasons why you might need a dental crown, including:

• To repair worn-out, chipped, cracked, weakened, or broken

The primary function of a tooth crown is to repair tooth damage. Damage such as cracks, weakness, erosion, chips, breaks, discoloration, decay, and fractures. Since the damage causes a tooth to become weak, a crown holds the tooth and enhances its strength.

• After a root canal

If you have deep tooth decay, a root canal treatment is the only effective remedy to save the tooth. A root canal treatment involves drilling through the tooth and removing the infected and decayed tissues from the tooth’s pulp. After removing the damaged tissues, a tooth tends to become fragile. A dental filling and crown further protect and strengthen the tooth.

• To enhance a tooth’s appearance.

If you have a severely stained or discolored tooth that won’t respond to teeth whitening or dental procedures such as veneers or bonding, a crown can be your best bet. Since a dental crown covers your natural tooth completely, it significantly improves its appearance.

• Saves your tooth

The crown also protects the tooth against further damage. If not repaired, a damaged tooth can chip, crack, weaken, or break further, leading to tooth loss or causing the need for extensive or expensive treatments. Furthermore, a crown protects the underlying teeth from exposure to bacteria, acids, heat, stress, and refined sugars, maintaining its health.

• To cover an implant

Dental implants offer the most natural restoration benefits when you’re missing teeth. A dental implant is attached to the jawbone of the missing tooth through surgery. The implant bonds with the underlying jawbone and becomes a part of your mouth. A dental crown is added over the implant to protect and strengthen it further.

• To hold a dental bridge.

A dental bridge is another restorative option for missing teeth. The artificial teeth replace the absent teeth with dental crowns attached to the nearby healthy teeth.

• To cover misshapen or uneven teeth.

Whether natural or accidental, uneven or misshapen teeth can affect normal functions such as chewing. Even worse, it can make you look less attractive. Covering a misshapen or crooked tooth enhances the natural tooth’s size and shape, improving your appearance and oral function.

How Much Teeth Structure Is Required?

Although a dental crown enhances a tooth’s strength, size, stability, and appearance, enough tooth structure is necessary for a successful crown installation. Most crown treatments involve trimming down the tooth’s enamel for the crown to fit properly.

However, a dental crown procedure may be complicated if the tooth’s structure is damaged or decayed. In such cases, additional steps might be needed to place the crown successfully. Most dentists apply composite resin to create a solid base for the crown.

With that said, you can still benefit from a dental crown even when you don’t have a lot or enough tooth structure. If the tooth is beyond repair, extraction is the only solution. The only sure way of finding out whether the dentist can save your tooth is to visit a dental office for an examination.

Schedule an Appointment Today

Contact Wellesley Dental Arts to book your appointment for more information about dental crown treatments.