Porcelain Crowns
A crown is an artifical restoration that fits over the remaining part of a prepared tooth, making it strong and giving it the shape of a natural tooth. Crowns are an ideal restoration for teeth that have been broken, or have been weakened by decary or a very large filling. Crowns can be made of a variety of different materials.
Porcelain bonded to precious metal
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns are somewhat of a hybrid between metal crowns and porcelain crowns. When they are made the dental technician first makes a shell of metal that fits over the tooth. A veneering of porcelain is then fused over this metal (in a high heat oven), giving the crown a white tooth-like appearance. Depending on the requirements of your situation, these crowns are sometimes made where the porcelain veneer only covers those aspects of the crown that is readily visible (meaning the other portions of the crown have a metal surface). In other cases these crowns are pretty much fully surfaced with porcelain. Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns can be a good choice for either front or back teeth. These crowns are strong enough to withstand heavy biting pressures and at the same time can have an excellent cosmetic appearance.
All-ceramic crowns
This modern technique offers a metal-free alternative. These crowns can possess a translucency that makes them the most cosmetically pleasing of all of the different types of dental crowns. Although they can be very life like in appearance, the overall strength of all-porcelain dental crowns is less than other types of crowns. While they can be a good choice for front teeth, due to the hefty chewing and biting forces that humans can generate, all-porcelain dental crowns may not be the best choice for back teeth. Your dentist's judgement will be required on this point.
Gold alloy crowns
Gold is one of the oldest filling materials. Today it is used with other metal alloys to increase its strength, which makes it a very hardwearing restoration. These crowns are white or gold in colour. The crowns are fixed in place with special dental cement or adhesive.
Zirconium crowns
Find out more about
zirconium crowns.
