How Dental Crowns Are Used
Dental crowns are used in a variety of ways to repair or improve your smile. Here are some of the most common ways we use dental crowns:
- Cover decayed tooth
- Protect a tooth after a root canal
- Restore strength to weakened tooth
- Improve the appearance of a tooth
- Build up small or worn teeth
- Support a dental bridge
- Sit atop a dental implant
- Provide support as part of TMJ treatment
Before
After
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Protection against Decay and Weakness
A dental crown is often called a cap because it is like a cap that fits over your natural tooth, giving it a completely new surface. A dental crown is most often called on when decay in a tooth is so extensive that a filling is not feasible or would result in too much weakness of the tooth. This includes teeth where bacteria have infected the tooth and need to be removed with a root canal procedure.
Dental crowns can also help if your tooth has become structurally compromised (cracked) due to trauma or wear.
Making Teeth Attractive
If your teeth are naturally small or have become worn down with age, a dental crown can be used to build it up so that it looks more attractive. It can also be used if your tooth has an unattractive shape or is discolored in a way that teeth whitening cannot improve. Porcelain veneers can also be used this way, but a dental crown gives better support.
Replacing Lost Teeth
Dental crowns are also used to help replace a missing tooth. They can be used to support a dental bridge and can sit atop a dental implant to be the replacement tooth.
Structural Support
In TMJ, a jaw imbalance is often related to a bite where the teeth don’t fit together properly (malocclusion). This may be due to teeth that are too small to hold the jaw in the position that is most harmonic for the muscles, bones, and soft tissue of the joint. Building up the teeth with dental crowns can help provide permanent relief from TMJ symptoms.
Dental Crowns in a Day
In the past, you had to wait weeks to get a dental crown, and in the meantime you wore a temporary crown that was unattractive, might be uncomfortable, and might fail before your permanent crown was ready.
Thanks to our CEREC system, temporary crowns are a thing of the past. You just need one visit to get a dental crown, which is manufactured using the computerized design process and a diamond mill that creates the crown out of a block of solid ceramic material. The crown can be custom-tinted to perfectly match your natural teeth and can be cemented in place before you leave our office.
To learn more about dental crowns and the benefits of CEREC in Wilmington, NC, please call (910) 392-6060 or email Kuzma Advanced Dentistry.
