Crowns Aren’t Thorny
- Posted on: Nov 15 2018
At Cosmetic Dentistry Center, Dr. Walk and Dr. Bamel are big fans of crowns, not the royal family type, the dental type. Crowns are tooth lifesavers, basically. And that’s always a good thing.
At most dental practices, getting a crown requires two appointments and a couple weeks time. Not at Cosmetic Dentistry Center. Thanks to our state-of-the-art CEREC system, we can place your crown in just a single appointment.
What is a crown?
A crown is created to cover a natural tooth all the way down to the gumline. This covers the entire visible part of the tooth, called, interestingly enough, the tooth’s crown. A crown sits atop the tooth, kind of like a crown without all the jewels! We use only dental porcelain for our crowns at Cosmetic Dentistry Center because they are ultimately strong and have a similar translucence and appearance to natural tooth enamel.
What does a crown do?
When a tooth has extensive decay, we could have to remove so much of the tooth that if we used a filling and left the tooth alone, its strength could be compromised. The tooth could break when used for biting. This compromised strength can be a result of a large filling, a deep crack, or a large chip. All of those problems put the tooth in danger of needing to be extracted.
But a crown can save the day. The crown is a prosthetic shaped just like the natural tooth that fits over the tooth and is cemented onto it permanently. The crown then gives the tooth back the strength it has lost. A crowned tooth is very strong. This allows the patient to keep the natural tooth under the crown.
How is a crown placed?
Once Dr. Walk or Dr. Bamel removes the decay or other damaged parts of the tooth, he then shaves off a portion of the remaining healthy tooth on all four sides and on top. This makes room for the crown to fit over the tooth without being larger than the original tooth. Plus, shaving down the sides and top makes for a good bonding surface. Once the tooth is shaved down, we take measurements, photos, and other data of your tooth and the adjacent teeth. We send this data to our CEREC system, which creates a 3D image of your crown/artificial tooth. We can make adjustments to the design, and then we order the CEREC system to mill the crown from a block of dental porcelain. It does this in about 30 minutes. We then take your new crown, check the fit and color match with your adjacent teeth, and glue it permanently to your natural tooth. And that’s it. You can go out and eat what you want with your new crown immediately.
Is it time for your next exam with the team at Cosmetic Dentistry Center? Call us at (617) 965-7673 to make an appointment.
Posted in: Dental Crown