HOW A CROWN CAN SAVE YOUR TOOTH

The use of dental crowns goes back more than a hundred years and tens of millions of people have received them. This well-established dental procedure has proven its value in saving teeth and beautifying smiles.

Why would a patient need a crown? In most cases, a crown is needed to provide protection for a tooth that has been damaged in some way. For example, the following kinds of damage can benefit from a crown:

• fractured or badly cracked tooth
  
• tooth that has received root canal therapy
  
• severely worn tooth
  
• tooth with extensive decay that has been corrected with a filling
  

In each of these cases, this initial damage has weakened the tooth, making further harm or eventual failure more likely. By covering the tooth with a strong porcelain crown, it is capable of lasting for many years—sometimes decades. Extraction can be delayed and sometimes it can be prevented altogether.

There are also cosmetic reasons to place a crown. Some people may have one or more teeth that are smaller than the others or are irregularly shaped. A few crowns will make this smile even and attractive, relieving any self-consciousness the person might have felt. A severely stained tooth can also be covered with a crown if the stain will not respond to whitening.

Dental crowns have benefited from all the recent advances in dental technology. They are now more aesthetic and more durable than ever. Crowns can be used for front teeth that experience the wear and tear of biting forces and for teeth in the back of the mouth that go through the stresses of chewing food. The crowns we place today are more capable of protecting and preserving teeth than ever before because of the durability of the newly-developed materials we use.

If you know about a problem tooth that might need a protective crown, please contact us. A quick examination will enable us to advise you on this fast solution for both strengthening and beautifying your teeth.