What Are Dental Crowns?
Seattle, WA
 Have you seen some of the pictures of artists and rappers on Instagram or Snapchat? They are sporting grills on their teeth. They are removable in many cases, and they are decorated with precious metals and gems. These grills are also sometimes permanently cemented onto their teeth. Other artists use crowns as a way to symbolize an album or a movie. These crowns are also cemented onto the teeth.
However, the crowns that we do every day in our office aren’t for artists or musicians. Instead, they are for people who need to protect or cover a tooth to strengthen it. If you have a tooth that you are worried might need a crown, let Queen Anne Family Dental take a minute to give you information about crowns.
What Are Crowns?
Crowns are usually made of porcelain. To make sure we give your tooth the most protection possible, we usually put porcelain over a metal piece or cap. You may have actually called crowns, caps - because the crown does fit like a cap over your teeth. In the past, crowns were much like the grills we were talking about earlier. They were used as a symbol of art, wealth or prestige. But people prefer to have crowns that match their natural teeth. Also, gold and silver are not strong metals, because they are easily bendable. With modern technology, we can now offer same day CEREC crowns.
How Crowns Are Used?
We use crowns for a lot of different reasons. First, we use crowns to protect teeth that have damage like inlays and onlays. Sometimes, teeth are damaged due to an accident. Often, adults in middle age bite down on a hard object, such as a piece of ice or a nut, and break off a part of their tooth. If the piece that is broken is large enough, we will need to place a crown over the tooth to protect it from more damage. If a break is severe enough, you may also feel pain. Placing a crown over the tooth will protect you from more pain.
A crown is also used to help strengthen a tooth after a root canal. We use root canals as a way to clean out an infected tooth. Teeth usually become infected because of tooth decay that has worked its way into the pulp of a tooth. A successful root canal saves the tooth, but the tooth will break without a crown. Placing a crown on the tooth after the root canal strengthens and protects the tooth from further damage.
Crowns can also be used to strengthen a tooth, especially a molar, that has had a very large filling. Over time, large fillings can become weak. They may fall out, or they may also develop a cavity underneath the filling. Placing a crown over the tooth helps to keep the tooth from cracking.
How Crowns Are Placed?
While your tooth may have been hurting for a while, placing a crown is neither difficult nor is it painful. We can place a temporary crown first, especially if we are worried your tooth may be damaged further if we don’t work to protect it. Temporary crowns protect your tooth from damage until we can get a new crown fixed. When your permanent crown is ready, we cement it to your natural tooth. We will have to file your tooth down a little bit, and then cement your new crown on top of your permanent tooth. It is a painless procedure. Did you break a tooth? Do you think you might need a crown? Give Queen Anne Family Dental a call at (206) 424-4450. |
