Dental Crowns Loveland Co
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped “cap” that is placed over a tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and/or to improve its appearance.
Crowns, when cemented into place, fully encase the entire visible portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line.
A dental crown may be needed in the following situations:
- To protect a weak tooth (for instance, from decay) from breaking or to hold together parts of a cracked tooth
- To restore an already broken tooth or a tooth that has been severely worn down
- To cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there is not enough tooth structure
- To hold a bridge in place
- To cover misshaped or severely discolored teeth
- To cover a dental implant
Permanent crowns can be made from all metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, or all ceramic materials (porcelain).
- Metals used in crowns include gold, platinum, and palladium. Compared with other crown types, less tooth structure needs to be removed with metal crowns, and tooth wear to opposing teeth is kept to a minimum. Metal crowns withstand biting and chewing forces well and probably last the longest in terms of wear down. Also, they rarely chip or break. The metallic color is the main drawback. Metal crowns are a good choice for out-of-sight molars.
- Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns, unlike the metallic crowns, can be color matched to your adjacent teeth. Next to all-ceramic crowns, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns look most like natural teeth. However, sometimes the metal underlying the crown’s porcelain can show through as a dark line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede. These crowns can be a good choice for front or back teeth.
- Ceramic (porcelain) Thanks to the use of increasingly more durable and biocompatible materials, and the utilization of CAD/CAM technology in the dental world, ceramic crowns are becoming increasingly more popular because of their excellent esthetics and ability to create a more beautiful and natural smile. Our Doctors utilize primarily three types of porcelain crowns: Lava, Procera, and Empress. Each of these types of porcelain crowns provide the optimum in all-ceramic materials, combined with exceptional natural-looking esthetics, and state-of-the-art CAD/CAM design technology.