Dental Crowns or Dental Caps

Dental Crowns or Dental Caps are tooth-shaped restorations that are used to cap or support a decayed or damaged tooth. Since dental crown encase the entire visible aspect of the tooth, a dental crown in effect becomes the tooth’s new outer surface.

Dentist usually suggests that the patient should have a protection through dental crown to prevent the possible outcome of a cracked tooth. Unlike cracked bones, the cracks in teeth do not repair themselves or heal over. Once a crack has formed, it would definitely increase in size over time due to exposure in heavy biting forces. Crowns are needed when a tooth is generally broken down and fillings can not suffice to alleviate the problem. The crown holds the tooth together to seal in the cracks to prevent tooth from further cracking. Crowns cup cover and encase the tooth on which they are placed. It can be also used to support a large filling, attach a bridge, guard weak teeth from fracturing, restore fractured teeth, cover up badly shaped or discolored teeth and protect a root-canal filled tooth.

The procedure begins by numbing the teeth area and removing any decay or weakened areas in the teeth. The dentist then reshaped the remaining tooth structure to create appropriate crown design. A tooth receiving a dental crown must be slightly tapered in form so the crown will slip over and onto the tooth. As a part of the trimming process the dentist will also ensure that any decay will be removed from the tooth. If the remaining teeth structure is not really strong, a composite resin is added unto the tooth structure to build it up and to guarantee that the crown will have a good foundation.

When the tooth has been appropriately shaped by the dentist, he will then make a copy of the patient’s tooth by way of taking an impression. There are two ways by which this impression can be done.

The first method is through Impression Material where dentists make an impression by using putty-like material in the patient’s tooth. This impression will then be sent to a dental laboratory that will in turn use it to create a plaster cast. The amount of time required to fabricate dental crowns usually lies on the order of two weeks or more.

Another way of getting an impression is through a camera that is attached to the dental ceramic milling machine. When the dentist have this machine, he can consequently design the patient’s dental crown and then create it by milling down a block of dental ceramic or porcelain in a matter of several minutes. The obvious advantage of this technique is that a tooth can be shaped and its dental crown cemented into place at once.

However, milling machines can only be used to fabricate porcelain crowns. And there are instances when the physical properties of porcelain crown are not appropriate for the patient’s situation. And in these cases, when the dental crown will be created in the dental laboratory, the patient’s tooth will be covered over by a temporary dental crown that your dentist has made.

The temporary crown which is typically made from plastic or a thin shell of metal are usually cemented into place using temporary cement so they can be removed easily when the permanent crown is ready. The temporarily cemented crown is not very strong so as much as possible, bulk of chewing activities should be done on the other side of temporary crown. A tooth with a temporary dental crown can usually be brushed and flossed in gentler way to prevent the crown to be snagged or pulled.

When the fabricated crown is ready, the dentist will numb the area and proceed with the process of cementing the crown on the patient’s tooth. Temporary crown is likewise removed. The dentist will then evaluate the way it fits on the patient’s tooth by using dental floss, feeling it with a dental tool, or asking the patient to gently bite down. When the crown fits seamlessly and contacts the neighboring teeth correctly, the crown is finally cemented on the tooth. The dentist will then scrape away any excess cement that has extruded from underneath the edges of your crown. After this, the placement of the crown is now complete.