Dental Crowns

Dental Crowns

Crowns are synthetic caps, usually made of a material like porcelain, placed on the top of a tooth.

Crowns are typically used to restore a tooth’s function and appearance following a restorative procedure such as a root canal. When decay in a tooth has become so advanced that large portions of the tooth must be removed, crowns are often used to restore the tooth.

Crowns are also used to attach bridges, cover implants, prevent a cracked tooth from becoming worse, or an existing filling is in jeopardy of becoming loose or dislocated. Crowns also serve an aesthetic use, and are applied when a discolored or stained tooth needs to be restored to its natural appearance.

Procedures

A tooth must usually be reduced in size to accommodate a crown. An impression is then made from the existing tooth to create a custom-designed crown.  The impression is sent to a special lab, which manufactures a custom-designed crown. In some cases, a temporary crown is applied until the permanent crown is ready. Permanent crowns are cemented in place.

Crowns are sometimes confused with veneers, but they are quite different. Veneers are typically applied only to relatively small areas.

Caring For Your Crowns

With proper care, a good quality crown could last up to eight years or longer. It is very important to floss in the area of the crown to avoid excess plaque or collection of debris around the restoration.

Certain behaviors such as jaw clenching or bruxism (teeth grinding) significantly shorten the life of a crown. Moreover, eating brittle foods, ice or hard candy can compromise the adhesion of the crown, or even damage the crown.

Advantages of Zirconium Crown

Zirconium is becoming one of the most chosen materials for dental crowns. Its many advantages include:

Zirconium is becoming one of the most chosen materials for dental crowns. Its many advantages include:

  • Superior looks: as zirconia is white naturally, it allows the transformations to any shade which match with the rest of your teeth. Zirconia is translucent, thus, it mimics the translucency of your natural teeth.
  • More confident smile: zirconia has no metal lining at the gums. Porcelain fused to metal crowns were popular earlier, however they have a metal layer underneath the porcelain layer which is on top of the crown. This fusion / metal lining is visible usually at the gum line. This is more evident when you smile. Zirconia crowns help you get over this and boost your confidence. You can also give zirconia any shape/ size to match the rest of your teeth.
  • 100% biocompatible: no zirconia crown allergy has been reported so far.
  • Extraordinarily tough: zirconia is the strongest crown, it can withstand wear and tear. It does not chip off, unlike porcelain. If you maintain it well, it can stay in your mouth forever. It is at least five times stronger than porcelain or porcelain fused to metal/ PFM. It also tolerates chewing or biting forces well. It has a very high flexural strength: zirconia has a flexural strength of 1200 MPa. (Flexural strength is the force that your crown tolerates.)
  • They bond well with your tooth: zirconia crowns adhere well to your tooth. One of the reasons why PFM crowns were the preferred choice is that the metal surface bonds well with the tooth and holds the crown in place. Zirconia also has this property. These crowns requie less tooth removal than many other types of dental crowns.
  • Metal free: many people used to prefer gold crowns because of its excellent physical properties. However, now since looks are more important to people, they want to look natural and young. Some people also don’t like having metals in their body. Zirconia is most suited for them.

The aesthetic effects alone of a zirconia crown should be the biggest advantage it can give. It is important that you have dental crowns that will look natural especially if it will be placed at the front teeth and will be visible beside the natural teeth.

The capacity of zirconium to be modified according to the set of teeth it will be placed alongside with is very important. Zirconium crown will not only replace a tooth but it can be shaped so that it will look better than the one it will be replacing. This is why you can spot that perfect natural looking smile anytime.

Zirconia manufacturers are now producing and designing dental crowns custom milled from solid block of the material and baked at ultra high temperatures to ensure that the finished crowns are almost indestructible.

The fact that this material is biocompatible means that it is safe to stay within your mouth for a long time. There is no need to worry about any adverse / allergic reactions from your body because it is not rejected by the human body.

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