Dental crowns in Beaumont, TX, have various essential uses across dentistry. They may be the most common restoration my colleagues and I use daily. I invite you to continue reading to learn about dental crowns, including their use and restoration process.
Understanding Dental Crowns
Crowns are tooth or implant abutment covers that conceal teeth to the gumline. They look natural and are shaped and shaded like your unrestored teeth. Strength, aesthetics, and ability to save at-risk teeth make them so popular and necessary in dentistry.
Indications of Dental Crowns
If I recommend a dental crown, it’s a tooth-saving measure or means to restore your smile. However, some patients choose crowns for cosmetic purposes or as part of a smile makeover.
Please find dental crown indications below.
Indication #1:
Restoring Tooth Stability and Mitigating the Risk of Loss
If you’ve injured your tooth, it has started to crumble from decay, or you’ve had a root infection, treating it with a dental crown can often save it from loss or necessary extraction.
A root infection, even when treated with root canal therapy, often weakens and destabilizes the center of a tooth.
A root infection requires root canal therapy or removing the infected material from your tooth’s canal, temporarily closing the tooth, and later capping it with a dental crown.
In cases of tooth instability, I typically recommend a dental crown. The crown is customized to fit over the tooth, creating a safe zone between jaw impact (as with chewing) and the vulnerable tooth beneath.
When a tooth cannot be saved, it’s essential to consider tooth replacement. Incidentally, the dental crown plays a critical role in some tooth replacement methods.
Indication #2:
Replacing Missing Teeth with Fixed Solutions
Dental crowns work with single dental implants and the traditional dental bridge.
A dental implant in Beaumont, TX, is a surgically placed artificial tooth root. The new root infuses or integrates into the jawbone, which creates a solid underpinning for a replacement tooth, also called a dental crown.
Indication #3:
Smile Aesthetics and Cosmetic Dentistry
I offer a wide selection of cosmetic dentistry options, including tooth-colored restorations. Some patients opt for a dental crown if they have a short tooth or one that is severely discolored and will not respond to professional teeth whitening. Other options used to conceal flawed teeth include dental veneers and dental bonding.
Types of Dental Crowns
We fabricate dental crowns from various materials, including but not limited to porcelain/ceramic, metal alloy, and ceramic fused to metal. I evaluate the tooth and consider its location in the mouth before recommending the best tooth crown for your case.
The Dental Crown Procedure
The dental crown procedure or process varies depending on the reason for the restoration.
Crown Process for Support and Aesthetics
If you need a dental crown to support or cosmetically enhance a tooth, the process involves preparing the tooth for capping. To prepare your tooth, I remove jagged edges or old filling material, shaping the tooth for your crown application. Then I take an impression using digital technology and no goopy impression material. I send the results to a trusted lab for crown building. Meanwhile, you go home with a temporary restoration to protect the treated tooth.
When your crown arrives, you return to the office for shape, shading, and fit adjustments. After these specifics are satisfied, I cement the crown over your tooth.
Crown Process for Tooth Replacement
If I’m replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant, you don’t receive the crown until the implant has integrated into your jawbone. In this case, I attach the crown to the implant post using an abutment.
If you’ve decided on a dental bridge, the prosthetic is one or two teeth between dental crowns. I prepare the tooth to the left and right of your smile gap, just like when crowning a weak tooth. Then, I cement the crowns, which allow the bridge teeth to restore your smile.
Aftercare and Long-Term Maintenance
Crowns do not require much maintenance on their own or as part of a dental implant. In fact, you treat them like unrestored or natural teeth.
Brush your teeth after eating or no less than twice daily.
- Floss your teeth after eating or no less than once daily.
- Visit my office every six months for dental checkups and teeth cleanings.
- Don’t bite into taffy or sticky candy with your crowned tooth.
Keeping crowns and bridges clean is essential, especially at the gumline, where tartar and bacteria can collect. A team member will discuss the best products to use, including a floss threader and a small cleaning brush.
Dental Crown Costs
Dental crown costs depend on several factors, including the type of crown and even the reason you need the restoration. For example, pretreatments like teeth preparation or the number of crowns required are a factor. Crowning after root canal treatment may be more costly than replacing a lost or broken crown due to less preparation.
When you come in for your consultation or treatment, I can determine costs based on findings, crown type, and the current state of the tooth.
I accept CareCredit to help patients finance their dental care. CareCredit is a medical credit card that allows for recommended and elective medical and dental treatments. Many programs are interest-free, and decisions made after applying are prompt. A member of my dental team can help.