What Type of Dental Crown Should I Choose?

What Type of Dental Crown Should I Choose?

What Type of Dental Crown Should I Choose?

If you have a chipped or damaged tooth, you may need to have dental crowns. If you’re unsure what dental crowns are and what types of dental crowns are available in dentistry, you’ll find everything you need to know to decide what dental crowns are best for you here.

What are Dental Crowns?

They’re little caps that go on top of your damaged tooth, but before a dentist can place the crown, they need to prepare the tooth. The preparation process can sound scary, especially for those who fear the dentist, but with the use of local anesthetics, it’s completely painless.

Types of Dental Crowns, Advantages, and Disadvantages

To decide what type of dental crown you should choose, you should know what your options are.

Most dentists in the US offer five dental crown types, which include:

  • Gold crowns
  • Porcelain crowns
  • Porcelain-metal mix crowns
  • Zirconia crowns
  • Stainless steel dental crowns

To be fully informed about each option, you need to know everything about the dental crown’s material, the advantages, and the disadvantages.

Gold crowns

Gold crowns aren’t made from gold. They’re made from a combination of copper, nickel, chromium, and other materials. Even though they’re still in use, they’re not such a popular choice since other materials look far more natural and are aesthetically more pleasing. Although, this type of crown is the most durable. Unfortunately, one of the most significant disadvantages is that some people can experience allergic reactions to the metal.

Porcelain crowns

These crowns are the most common choice nowadays because of their aesthetic appearance. This dental crown’s material allows the dentist to create a natural-looking replacement that will blend in with surrounding teeth by looks and color. The good thing about porcelain crowns is that they look very natural, but the downside is that they are pretty costly.

If you’re asking yourself what dental crowns include porcelain and metal mix, they’re an old technique used for more than five decades. The outer layer is made of porcelain which makes this type of dental crowns aesthetically pleasing, but they have a metal inside layer, which gives the structure strength and durability. The advantage of these dental crowns is the strength, but a thin metal line can be seen alongside the gum line.

Zirconia

Zirconia crowns are made from a dental crowns material that combines the strength of metal crowns with impeccable aesthetics. It’s a relatively new technique, and it has shown unbelievable results. Compared to other dental crowns, these are more durable, offer excellent aesthetics, and are less likely to be damaged. There are a few drawbacks, and it’s that they’re tough to adjust once solid, and these crowns can damage opposite biting teeth.

Stainless Steel

These dental crowns aren’t used as much as other types of dental crowns but are worth mentioning either way. They’re mostly used in restoring primary teeth in children. The advantage of using stainless steel crowns is that it requires very little prep work done, and they are usually much more affordable than other types.

The Procedure to Getting Dental Crowns Fitted

If one or more of your teeth are damaged or decayed, you’ll surely need some dental work done. If the damage isn’t too serious, your dentist may recommend getting fillers, inlays, or onlays. On the other hand, if your teeth are in poor condition, your dentist will recommend a specific dental crown material once they do the initial examination. Thankfully, getting dental crowns doesn’t require many visits to the dentist’s office.

During your first visit, the dentist will assess the situation and do a thorough examination. You’ll need to get an X-ray as well so the dentist can get a clear picture of the state of your teeth. If you need full dental crowns, the dentist will remove the excess parts of the teeth that need work and file them down into a perfect shape for fitting a crown.

Depending on the dental crowns material and the available equipment at your dentist’s office, you’ll be able to get the crowns fitted the same day or in a few weeks. The procedure is the same; the only difference is that you’ll be fitted with a temporary crown until your permanent crown is made in the dental lab.

The fitting procedure is the same, no matter what dental crown material is used to make the crown. Dental cement is used for all types of dental crowns, and it’s a pretty straightforward procedure that takes only a few minutes per crown.

Factors You Need to Consider Before Choosing a Specific Crown Type

In most cases, your dentist will make a recommendation about the type of crown that will be the best fit for your specific situation. If you don’t have a dentist you’re visiting on a regular basis, then Gables Sedation is an excellent choice if you’re in the Miami area.

There are a couple of factors you need to take into consideration before making your choice:

  • The cost
  • Durability
  • Crown location (front or back teeth)
  • Material

Even though we put the cost at the top of the list, it should be the least important factor when choosing a crown type. Of course, the price does play a significant role in the decision-making process. Still, it mustn’t be a deciding factor, mainly because there are more important factors to consider first.

Durability is a significant factor to consider, especially if you need to get a crown on one or more of your teeth used for chewing—the teeth you use for chewing need a durable crown that will withstand everyday pressure.

Tooth location is probably the most crucial factor to consider. If you need a crown on a tooth shown while smiling, you need to choose a crown type that looks and feels as natural as possible.

The chosen material is vital if you experience allergy symptoms when in contact with certain materials. The metals used in making gold crowns and ceramic-metal mix crowns can cause pretty irritating symptoms over time, so if you’re aware of which metals you react to, consider it the next time you’re about to get a crown.

However, the best thing to remember when choosing a dental crown is to consult professionals before making your final decision. Your dentist should tell you the pros and cons of every type they can offer and help you make the right decision.

When was the last time you had a new dental crown fitted? Do you know which type you picked or what your dentist used? If you found this article interesting or helpful, make sure to share it with your family and friends via social media!