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South & North Oak Dental Office
South & North Oak Dental Office
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Crowns
A crown fits over the entire top of the tooth above the
gum line. Crowns cover, protect, seal and strengthen a tooth. A
crown is needed when a filling just will not work. A crown may be
made of white porcelain, or porcelain fused to gold. There are many
situations that may call for a crown: |
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| Large decay. If a tooth has
decay so deep and large that a filling will not stay, or if the
tooth structure is weakened, a crown must be placed on the tooth to
save it. |
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| Large old fillings. When large
old fillings break down, or get decay around them, they usually
need to be crowned. It is important to crown a tooth that has been
structurally weakened to prevent a cracked or broken tooth. Once a
tooth breaks, it may not be possible to save it. |
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| Cracked tooth. When a tooth is
cracked, a filling will not seal the crack. A crown has to be
placed over the tooth to hold it and the crack together. If a crown
is not placed on the tooth, the tooth will become sensitive to
chewing pressure, or will eventually break. It is important to
crown a cracked tooth before it breaks, because in some cases a
broken tooth cannot be crowned and must be extracted. |
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Broken / Fractured tooth. A
tooth that has broken is usually too weak to hold a filling. A
crown will hold the tooth together and prevent it from breaking
again. If the fracture involves the nerve, Root Canal Therapy may
be required before the tooth is crowned. In some cases, a broken
tooth cannot be saved and must be extracted..
This patient chose not to have the cracked tooth above crowned, and
it later fractured. This tooth had to be extracted because it
cracked all the way to the root. |
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Sensitive teeth. Teeth that are very
sensitive, either from a lot of "wear", or from receded gums,
sometimes require crowns to seal and protect the teeth from hot and
cold sensitivity.
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Root Canal Therapy. A tooth that has
undergone Root Canal Therapy will need a crown to properly seal and
protect the tooth. A tooth with Root Canal Therapy is more brittle
than a tooth with a healthy nerve and blood supply. A crown
provides the necessary support to the tooth.
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In cosmetic dentistry, crowns
(sometimes called "caps") are used less frequently since the advent
of veneers, but in some cases a crown may be necessary for a
particular tooth. A tooth with a bad fracture or a large filling
may be a candidate for a crown instead of a veneer.
Before: This tooth has a large filling as shown. A crown is
needed on this tooth, instead of a veneer, because there isn't
enough natural tooth left to support a veneer. A crown will cover
and protect the tooth, but will look the same as a veneer.
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| After: The top teeth now have
veneers, except the one that had large filings, which now has a
crown. |
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