A crown is a tooth-shaped cover placed over a tooth that is badly damaged or decayed. Many people call it a cap.
Crowns
may be placed for several reasons. Usually the tooth has been broken or
severely damaged by decay. As a result, a filling can't replace enough
of the tooth or make the tooth strong enough. A crown may hold together
parts of a cracked tooth. It also can be used to hold a bridge in place.
Crowns can be used to improve appearance as well. They may be placed to
cover misshapen or badly discolored teeth.
Crowns
can be made ahead of time (prefabricated) or made to order in a
laboratory. Prefabricated crowns are made of plastic or stainless steel.
They can be used on a temporary basis until a permanent crown is made.
Crowns can be made of:
- All metal
- Zirconia
- Porcelain fused to metal (PFM)
- Porcelain fused to zirconia
- All ceramic
Metals
include gold alloy, other alloys (palladium) or a base-metal alloy
(nickel or chromium). The all-metal or PFM crowns are stronger and are
better choices for back teeth than ceramic crowns. PFM and all-ceramic
crowns are the same color as your natural teeth. They look just like
normal teeth.
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Grand Traverse Smile Center
Ryan Paulson, DDS
928 S. Garfield Avenue
Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 935-4872
GTSmileCenter.com
A Crown Restores a Damaged Tooth
Teeth wear down over time, become cracked, marred, or even more severely damaged. In short, they can no longer do the job for which they were intended. They may even reach the point where a simple filling won't completely repair the injury. In these cases, a crown will save and even add strength to your damaged tooth. We use the most advanced materials available to create crowns that not only restore function, but simulate the look of a natural tooth. Check out our CEREC™ page for information about crowns that take only a single visit!
Grand Traverse Smile Center
Ryan Paulson, DDS
928 S. Garfield Avenue
Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 935-4872
GTSmileCenter.com
Natural-Looking Crowns Made While You Wait
You have a tooth that needs a crown. So, you visit the dentist. They take a tooth impression and place a temporary crown. Then, you wait about two weeks for the permanent crown to be made before you return to the dentist; if the fit isn't perfect, the crown goes back to the lab and you wait some more.
At Grand Traverse Smile Center, we've changed that practice. We can reduce that two-week waiting period and the two or three office visits down to just a single visit, using a new technology called CEREC™.
CEREC is a computer-aided design and milling device. It allows us to create a permanent crown in just minutes. No more waiting for a lab and no return trips to the dentist. The entire process to repair a damaged tooth takes about an hour. Our patients love it!
To make the restoration, we use a special camera to take an accurate picture of the tooth. The picture is then displayed on a computer screen, enabling us to design the restoration. The CEREC device then automatically creates the crown, inlay, or onlay. Finally, we bond the new restoration to the surface of the old tooth.
All this makes going to the dentist much easier and faster, and who really wants to spend more time in the dental chair?
