Looking to perfect your smile but unsure of what dental crowns would suit you?
Dental crowns, made from an array of materials including gold or porcelain, are used to “cap” a damaged tooth that cannot be easily repaired with a dental filling. Aside from being used to strengthen or improve a damaged tooth, a dental crowns can be used to improve the appearance, shape, or alignment of a tooth.
Which type of dental crown should I consider getting?
Whether your tooth is badly decayed, broken, or cracked, dental crowns can transform your smile. But the type of dental crown you get should be based on your lifestyle and sensitivity levels. Here’s an overview of the most common materials used for crowns.
Gold
A staple in dentistry, gold dental crowns are known for being extremely durable, long-lasting, and the least reactive of the metals in the mouth. While pure gold is too soft to be usable in the mouth, a gold dental crown mixed with other precious metals like platinum or silver, has a low-reactivity rate with the gum tissue, and is resistant to corrosion and oxidation.
Even though there are several advantages of having a gold dental crown, they might not be the best choice for most patients. For cosmetic appearance, patients may want to steer away from gold to restore a front tooth, but would opt for gold if the crown is for a molar. Patients might have a sensitivity to the crown, especially when it comes to eating hot or cold foods and beverages, even if they don’t have a gold-allergy.
Porcelain Fused to Gold
A porcelain fused to gold crown consists of porcelain fused and stacked in layers on top of a gold base. Unlike a full gold crown, porcelain fused to gold offers a better cosmetic appearance, with the gold base acting as a protective barrier for the tooth.
While porcelain fused to gold makes for a better aesthetic than a full gold crown, this dental crown’s dark metal edge might sometimes be visible at the gum-line, thus making the porcelain look less life-like.
Full Porcelain
Giving off natural cosmetic results, a porcelain crown can give you something worth smiling about. Porcelain crowns are the best option for front teeth, delivering a full, vibrant smile, without the appearance of gold or other metals interfering. Porcelain crowns aren’t as reactive to heat and cold like gold dental crowns, thus reducing a patient’s sensitivity to hot and cold foods and drinks.Porcelain crowns are a great option for patients who want to enhance their smile, however, when made too thinly, they can be brittle and fracture whereas thicker porcelain could potentially damage opposing natural teeth for patients who clench their jaws or grind their teeth.
CEREC
Through the CEREC crown method, patients experience a more streamlined process and a more comfortable patient experience. The major benefit to this is that crowns can be completed in one visit. So, how does it work? CEREC is done with an infrared camera that takes 3-D images of your damaged teeth and sends the photos to the CEREC machine. Rather than taking impressions and waiting for the lab, the crown is milled in the machine that day!
Book an Appointment with Longwood Dental
Still unsure of which dental crown might be the best option for you? The prosthodontists at Longwood Dental Group specialize in restorative cosmetic dentistry. We walk with you every step of the process, from consulting which dental crowns best suits your lifestyle, to what food and drinks you should avoid after the procedure. Get in touch with our Brookline dental office today, and book an appointment with a dental crown specialist. Let us make your smile and comfort our top priority.