Porcelain Crowns

A crown is a type of dental restoration which completely caps or encircles a tooth or dental implant. Crowns are often needed when a large cavity threatens the ongoing health of a tooth.  They are usually fabricated using indirect methods, and typically bonded to the tooth using a dental cement. Porcelain Crowns are often used to improve the strength or appearance of teeth. While inarguably beneficial to dental health, the procedure and materials can be relatively expensive.

 

                                              

 

Porcelain crowns can restore:

Aesthetics

Patient may need Porcelain Crowns when he or she desires to have smile aesthetically improved but when partial coverage (i.e., a veneer/laminate) is not an option for one or more reasons. If the patient's occlusion does not permit for a mildly-retentive restoration, or if there is too much decay or a fracture within the tooth structure, a porcelain or composite veneer may not be placed with any adequate guarantee for its durability. Similarly, a "bruxer" (someone who clenches or grinds their teeth) may produce enough force to repeatedly dislodge or irreversibly abrade any veneer a dentist can plan for. In such a case, full coverage crowns can alter the size, shape or shade of a patient's teeth while protecting against failure of the restoration.

Endodontically treated teeth

The living tooth structure is surprisingly resilient and can sustain considerable abuse without fracturing. Consequently, after root canal therapy is performed, a tooth becomes extremely brittle and is significantly weaker than its vital neighbors. Fractures of endodontically treated teeth increase considerably in the posterior dentition when cuspal protection is not provided by a crown.

This fracture may well be difficult to treat, such as a "vertical root fracture". Anterior teeth (i.e. incisors and canines), which are exposed to significantly lower functional forces, may effectively be treated with intracoronal restorations following root canal therapy if there is enough tooth structure remaining after the procedure.

                                               

 

 

Surveyed crown

Another situation in which a crown is the restoration of choice is when a tooth is intended as an abutment tooth for a removable partial denture, but is initially unfavorable for such a task. If the abutment teeth onto which the RPD is supposed to clasp do not possess the proper dimensions or features required, these aspects can be built into what is known as a surveyed crown.

Implants

Dental implants are placed into either the maxilla or mandible as an alternative to partial or complete edentulism. Once placed and properly integrated into the bone, implants may then be fitted with a number of different prostheses: crowns, bridges, or dentures.