''A dental crown has been one of the most functional restoration processes for getting a damaged tooth to appear healthy and functional again. ''
Improving the appearance of the teeth and making them stronger boosts our quality of life. For many, the ability to restore their teeth after any form of damage gives them control over their dental appeal and general dental health.
Installing dental crowns is often the result of so many factors, and the most prominent is tooth decay or damage.
At some other times, it could be for just cosmetic purposes.
However, regardless of the reasons you are probably getting dental crowns for, you can be sure that they help restore functionality and strength and offer adequate protection to your teeth.
What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a cap fixture made from different materials by a professional dentist. It is worn over a tooth or teeth for protection or to improve the aesthetic appearance of the teeth. Sometimes, a dental crown isn’t used to cover a real tooth but instead an implant post to give the appearance of a real tooth.
When the dental crowns are installed on the teeth, they cover the teeth entirely, up to the gumline. This could be for several reasons.
For instance, installing a dental crown is a safe way to prevent the tooth from further damage or decay if you have a broken or severely cracked tooth.
For a patient who doesn’t have many natural teeth left, installing a dental crown over worn-out teeth or covering up part of the teeth with large fillings can serve as a restorative option.
At other times, it could be to improve the appeal of discolored teeth, conceal a dental implant, or hold a dental bridge in place.
Summarily, below are reasons why you may need a dental crown:
- To conceal discolored teeth
- To protect damaged or worn out tooth
- To conceal a dental bridge or implant
- To further fortify the dental care of a patient who has had a root canal treatment
Types of Dental Crowns
Celebrities and fashion icons have almost limited the idea of dental crowns to silver or gold grills attached to the teeth.
However, dental crowns can be made from a variety of special materials that can achieve many functions aside from the popular aesthetic purposes.
Also, these materials vary in price, leaving patients to explore cheaper or pricier alternatives that best fit into their budgets.
Primarily, dental crowns are made from composite resins, porcelain, metal, gold, and more recently, zirconium and cerac. We shall now explore these materials individually:
Porcelain Dental Crown
Porcelain is ceramic, and it offers the best natural color appearance and can match the rest of your teeth when installed.
They can be made to blend into any natural color of human teeth and are perhaps the most affordable of all dental crown types.
A porcelain dental crown installation can be entirely ceramic or mixed with metal. The installation your dentist may encourage you to go for may be due to other factors, such as whether you are allergic to metal or whether the dental crown is only for a short time.
Therefore, if you are looking for a white and more natural-looking crown, especially for not-so-long-term aesthetic purposes, porcelain is your best bet.
However, porcelain dental crowns, unlike most of their other counterparts, don’t last as long. They have been reported to wear out other teeth in contact with the crowned area at other times.
When mixed with metal installation, and if you are not allergic to metal, porcelain and metal fused dental crowns could serve very long-term purposes.
Metal Dental Crown
Metal dental has a metallic appearance, and they are made from a series of metals such as copper, platinum, chromium, and gold. In most cases, as you will find for fashion or aesthetic purposes, metal dental crowns are often a combination of base metal alloy with precious metal.
This mix guarantees a strong dental crown, which dentists often recommend for restoring the molars of the teeth.
Because of their formidable strength, they are good for long-term purposes, and you can crush and grind with a metal dental crown without any adverse effect or wear on it.
However, if you are allergic to certain types of metal or just metal generally, a metal dental crown might not be an option to settle for.
One of the downsides of the metal dental crown is its inability to give the real tooth appearance that porcelain crowns are known for.
However, in recent times, dental technicians have developed a metal dental crown made from ZirconiaZ called the bruxzir crown.
The bruxzir crowns are made from Zirconia, a variant of titanium to achieve a real teeth appearance just like porcelain crowns but with the reinforced strength of metal dental crowns.
Zirconium Dental Crown
Zirconium is a relatively new material used as a dental restorative agent. Zirconium dental crowns have an almost ceramic appearance, made from zirconium oxide, making them excellent dental crown types for patients who want a real tooth crown appearance.
According to the American Dental Association, zirconium dental crowns are stronger than some metal alloy crowns and are better alternatives to porcelain.
When installed, zirconium dental crowns cause less stress and wear on opposite teeth, unlike most metal and porcelain dental crowns.
Zirconium dental crowns are split-resistant and are the most durable monolithic dental crowns. Furthermore, they have better shielding power to protect your teeth and leave them uncompromised by other damaging elements that a weak dental crown may cause.
Although zirconium dental crowns are quite translucent, making them quite difficult to blend into looking flawlessly natural, they can last up to fifteen years when installed and maintained properly.
Composite-Resin Dental Crowns
The composite-resin dental crown is the most natural-looking of all dental crowns. They are mostly made from simple silicone dioxide composition with plaster that matches the patient’s teeth color. They are also the most affordable type of dental crown if you are not too keen on long-term use.
Furthermore, they may be very appealing, and they may easily pose as a more convenient alternative for patients who are allergic to all types of metal. Dentist may use acrylic polymer resins or polymethyl methacrylate. While most dentists often use acrylic polymer, polymethyl methacrylate requires complex preparatory steps.
The major downside of the composite-resin dental crown remains that a large portion of the teeth structure would be removed before the composite resin dental crown can be fitted properly. Since it isn’t known to be durable beyond a few years, it becomes quite expensive in the long run to maintain and may expose the teeth to damage further if not adequately maintained.
Cerec Dental Crown
Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics (Cerec) is a new dental restoration technique that is changing the field of dentistry. This dental crown is perhaps the fastest set of dental crowns to install, as you can walk into a dentist and get it done in a matter of hours.
Unlike other dental crown processes that may require several appointments, a dentist can easily design a crown from the digital print of your teeth using the computer-aided design or the computer-aided manufacturing features of their computer.
However, not every dentist is familiar with using the Cerec system to design a dental crown, but the result is often flawlessly beautiful.
Sometimes, it becomes pretty difficult to tell if there’s any crown installed on the teeth because the installations are often closely blended with the real teeth. Also, because of its high-tech application process and the swiftness of the procedure, Cerec dental crowns are quite expensive to have.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Dental Crowns
Dental crowns offer restorative benefits to already defective teeth compared with other alternatives. However, whether dental crowns are the best dental restorative options you have will depend on your dental diagnosis.
This is why seeking professional help is important when evaluating your dental restoration options. In examining the pros and cons of dental crowns, here are several benefits and downsides that dental crowns you may want to consider before getting one for yourself.
Advantages of Dental Crowns
- Improve the Quality of Your Smile
Not only will a dental crown help you improve the quality of your smile and the general appearance of your teeth, but it also improves your quality of life.
Thanks to advanced dental crown procedures like the Cerec dental crown and those made from Zirconia, you can have custom-made crowns to fit your dentition in terms of color, shape, and lifestyle.
Also, in improving your general dental appeal, you have options regarding the dental crown type you are going for and how it fits into your budget and availability.
A professional consultation will provide you with information on dental crowns that are more stain-resistant and favorable to your allergies and lifestyle.
For instance, smokers with tooth grinding issues may opt for a zirconia dental crown rather than a composite resin dental crown.
- Long-Lasting Comfort
All dental restoration aims to ensure comfort and maintain proper oral hygiene. Dental crowns are somewhat permanent and can last for five to fifteen years when properly installed. Unlike dentures, they do not shift, and unlike fillings, some dental crowns do not wear out and create more cavities.
They are important to cover up dental implants to replace missing teeth. With one installation appointment, you are only required to go for a routine maintenance appointment.
Therefore, a dental crown offers long-lasting comfort and saves you money in the long run.
- Dental Crown Offers Protection and Support
While other dental restorative options, like veneers, offer protection to the teeth, dental crowns are the perfect option if there has been greater damage to the teeth. Cracked teeth, tooth decay, and large cavities are better protected with dental crowns.
A dental crown gives a weak tooth enough time to garner strength and heal stronger.
This is why dental crowns are used during root canal treatment. Also, since dental crowns have different types, you can always find the one that offers the level of protection needed for your lifestyle and allergies.
Disadvantages of Dental Crowns
- It is an Expensive Procedure
Dental crowns could cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the number of teeth you are covering and the type of crown you want.
Also, when compared with other dental restorative options, the dental crown seems to be one of the most expensive.
However, considering the long-term benefits seems a fair investment as a dental crown prevents you from recurring period dental treatments, which would cost more in the long run.
Furthermore, the cost may be needed to save yourself from losing a tooth or set of teeth.
- It May Cause Mild Discomfort
Most dental crowns are installed by filing off some part of the teeth to fit the crown. The filing down of the teeth is irreversible and may cause minor discomforts such as tooth sensitivity and painful biting.
While this may be short-term for long-term comfort when trying to protect an already damaged tooth from further damage, it might not entirely be a great idea if you are only getting a dental crown for aesthetic purposes.
Using dentist-recommended toothpaste or an oral hygiene routine may reduce this discomfort.
However, once you have initiated covering your teeth with a dental crown, you will always need the installation when they get weak. There might be no going back.
- Might Lead to Further Decay If Not Properly Fitted
If you do not carry out routine maintenance on your dental crown installation and leave it loose, the crown may become a breeding ground for bacteria that may cause tooth decay.
This may also result from using an inexperienced or negligent dentist. Since your teeth are already filed down, they become more susceptible to decay.
How Dental Crowns Are Installed: Step-by-Step Procedure
Most dental crown installations often require two dentist appointments, although there are emerging new installation trends that could be fixed in one appointment and just a matter of hours.
The first dental appointment is for teeth examination and preparation for dental crowning. This may require creating an impression of the teeth to construct the dental crown.
Usually, temporary crowns are used to cover the vulnerable reshaped teeth if the tooth is filed down during the first appointment.
Subsequent visits are for the installation of the constructed crown over the reshaped teeth. However, below is the step-by-step guide to dental crown installation.
1. Dental Investigation
The first step to dental crown installation is a dental consultation to investigate the teeth and help the dentist recommend the best restoration option if the dental crown isn’t appropriate.
This step requires taking an x-ray of the teeth and jawbone region to investigate whether or not there is any decay or intense tooth damage. For some patients, a dentist may recommend a root canal treatment first.
2. Teeth Reshaping
After the investigation, the dentist may reshape the teeth to allow the new dental crown to fit properly on the tooth area and align with the gum region. The extent to which the teeth will be filed down will be determined by the dental crown used.
For instance, metal dental crowns require less filing because they are thinner than most other types of dental crowns. The top area and the sides of the teeth are filed to fit the crown.
Also, at this point, dangerous dental conditions such as tooth decay are treated in preparation for the final sealing of the dental crowns.
3. Dental Filling
For patients with extensive tooth decay and damage that makes filling into the desired shape difficult, the dentist may need to fill up the affected teeth with filling material to form a proper structure where the dental crown can fit properly.
4. Creating Teeth Impression
Like forming a cast of an original shape, the dentist will have to create an impression of the newly shaped teeth to help them create the perfect dental crowns that will fill up the tooth structure to form a flawless dentition.
This step is crucial as the information needed to manufacture the perfect dental crown is revealed at this stage.
The impressions are created using putty paste spread over the teeth structure and then pulled off to reveal the teeth impression.
Your dentist may cover the filed teeth with a temporary dental crown before your next appointment.
5. Impression is Sent to the Dental Technician
Your teeth impression is sent to the lab or a dental technician to make a custom-made and permanent dental crown that fits your dentition. This may take up to three weeks with certain materials.
6. Permanent Dental Crown Installation
When the permanent dental crowns are ready, your dentist will call you for the second appointment.
This appointment sees the removal of the temporary dental crown and the application of local anesthetic to the teeth region to numb the area.
Sometimes, and depending on the materials used, instant adjustments are made to the crown to fit properly.
Same-Day Crown Placement Procedure
With the emergence of procedures like the Cerec dental crown installation, dentists can carry out same-day dental crown installations.
This procedure will entail scanning the teeth and creating a 3D impression of the teeth via the computer using computer-aided design or computer-aided manufacturing features.
In a matter of minutes, a perfect set of dental crowns can be manufactured in just one appointment.
What Is Better: Crowns, Veneers or Fillings?
Your general dental health condition determines the type of dental restoration method you may explore. Dental crowns, veneers, and fillings are great options, but they are explored for distinct dental conditions.
Veneers are largely cosmetic. They conceal stained teeth, worn teeth, crooked or cracked teeth, and misshapen teeth.
Generally, they are installed to boost the exterior of the teeth and make them look more appealing. Therefore, they offer almost no protective or restorative benefit.
On the other hand, dental fillings are used in concealing cavities and protecting the teeth from the damaging effect of large cavities, resulting in tooth loss.
Dental cavities conceal holes where cavities have been treated, and it is used to restore teeth structure to make the filled teeth functional again.
In other words, the difficulties and alterations that cavities cause to your lifestyle are restored when such cavities are filled up.
However, a dental crown protects dental fillings and can boost the dental aesthetics that veneers are well-known for. They can be used to hold broken teeth together and be used as part of the installation to replace missing teeth.
With dental crowns, dentists can fill necessary cavities in the teeth, reshape the teeth, and protect them using aesthetically pleasing caps.
Therefore, installing dental crowns gives you triple benefits.
However, while a dental crown appears to be the best option, it cannot replace dental fillings. In some complex dental crown procedures, a dental filling is used to restore the tooth structure needed to fill the crown properly.
Dental Crowns Cost In Antalya
Turkey has some of the best state-of-the-art dental clinics that you may visit for dental crown installation.
Compared with costs in other countries, such as the United States of America, the cost of dental crown installation in Turkey is low.
Places like Antalya have dental clinics that offer comprehensive installation payment schemes for their dental crown installations with no hidden charges.
Sometimes, these plans come with free incentives, such as free transfer services and accommodation.
Typically, the installation cost depends on the type of dental crown you are opting for. In Antalya, for instance, most dental clinics charge between $100 and $140 for each porcelain fused metal crown.
On average, zirconium crowns may cost up to $200 per one, while on average, pure porcelain dental crowns may cost up to $115.
These charges may accumulate to $8,000 or more for a full dental crown installation on your entire teeth, together with other minor dental procedures that might be necessary for the installation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How long do dental crowns last?
On average, a perfectly installed dental crown may last for up to fifteen years.
However, the span of this durability is largely dependent on the type of dental crown it is.
For instance, zirconium crowns and Cerec crowns last longer than composite resins. It is also important to note that certain other factors may vary the longevity of your chosen dental crown.
Lifestyle habits such as teeth grinding and excessive tooth use may shorten the life of your dental installation.
On the other hand, maintaining good oral hygiene such as flossing regularly, routine dental checkups, flossing at least once a day, and brushing at least twice daily may help boost the durability of your dental crown installation.
Is a crown worth getting?
Dental crowns are always worth the cost, depending on why you get them. There are a lot of other cheaper dental restorative procedures you can always explore, depending on your dental condition.
If dental filling and teeth whitening is all you need to seal up cavities on your teeth and improve your general dental appeal, there is no point in spending thousands of dollars to have a dental crown on your entire teeth.
However, suppose you are looking at a single dental restorative procedure that can boost the appeal of your teeth and at the same time offer protection.
In that case, dental crowns are a better cost-efficient procedure. Just a single installation may serve you for as long as fifteen years.
Can you crown all your teeth?
Having a couple of crowns on our teeth isn’t a bad idea, although the ideal situation is not to have so many crowns over your teeth. What is considered too many is quite personal.
Medically, you may suffer no adverse consequences from getting all your teeth covered with crowns if they are installed properly and professionally, only that you might have to consider a new change every ten to fifteen years.
Alternatively, you may examine the teeth to identify the cause of a tooth problem and then take the necessary steps to fix the problem rather than covering the teeth with caps.
If tooth decay is the root problem, then embrace good oral hygiene and take the necessary steps to seal up the cavities with dental fillings or special sealants rather than file down the teeth to fit caps.
You may also speak to your dentist to seek alternative dental restorative options if you are uncomfortable with having so many dental crowns.
How do you prepare your tooth for a crown?
You will probably make two dentist visits unless you get a same-day dental crown procedure such as cerec crowns. The preparation starts with examining the teeth and requiring a simple teeth and jawbone x-ray.
This is followed by a root canal treatment if there is any extensive decay damage.
Filing and reshaping the teeth, creating an impression of the teeth, and inserting temporary dental crowns are the other preparations that will follow your first tooth examination.
At the second dentist’s appointment, local anesthetics are applied to the teeth region to numb the area, and the final crown is cemented into the reshaped tooth or teeth.
Does a crown require a root canal treatment?
Not every dental crown procedure will need a root canal treatment. Dental crowns are used Root canal are used in non-root canal treatment procedure where the teeth suffer structural defects.
Root canal treatment becomes possible only if, after examination, severe tooth decay is revealed and it is necessary to remove the soft tissues in the mouth. Generally, dental crowns are caps that cover and protect the outer parts of the teeth.
The misconception comes from the fact that every root canal treatment requires dental crown installation. However, not every dental crown installation needs a root canal treatment first.
Can crowns be whitened?
Not all dental crowns can be whitened. For instance, porcelain and composite resin crowns are made from non-porous materials that are not resistant to stains.
However, most stain-resistant crowns will remain the same color as when the dentist first installed them, and there might be no need to whiten them.
This is why it is important to choose a color that matches your teeth when choosing dental crowns.
However, if the color of your natural teeth differs from your dental crown you may consider whitening your natural teeth to blend the color with that of your dental caps.
How long does getting a crown to take in Turkey?
You may get your crowns within two to five days for a traditional dental crown in Turkey. This timeframe within which to get your crown is largely dependent on the type of crown you are getting.
The composite resin and porcelain crown procedures may take days or weeks to complete. While for Cerec and Zirconium crowns, with the help of computer-aided design and manufacturing, you might get your installation within a day.
Are dental crowns safe?
Generally, dental crowns are installed to offer protection to the teeth.
Dental crowns’ protection may help restore general dental health and prevent further damage. However, routine maintenance and good oral hygiene are necessary to ensure that dental crowns continue to maintain the same level of protection for your teeth.
Also, a proper installation by a professional is essential to this safety and protection because a shifty crown may harbor dangerous bacteria, which may lead to tooth decay and cavities if not managed properly.
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