Welcome to
Dental Crowns
What is a dental crown?
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped “cap” that is placed over a tooth — to cover the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and improve its appearance. It fully covers the visible portion of your tooth or dental implant.
Why is a dental crown needed?
A crown may be recommended by Dr. Amee to:
- Replace a large filling when there is not enough tooth remaining
- Protect a weak tooth from fracturing after a very large filling or root canal treatment
- Cover a dental implant
- Improve your smile by covering a discolored or badly shaped tooth
Staff and Dr Pathak were wonderful! I was extremely nervous about dental appointment due to past experiences at a previous dentist where I moved from but they put me at ease.
Gretchen Fitzpatrick
Types of Dental Crowns
Dr. Amee will recommend the best type of crown for your dental restoration needs based on the chewing forces, placement and structure of the tooth or implant that requires protection. There are different types of crowns. Each type has its own characteristics and qualities:
Full Porcelain
Porcelain is attractive, strong, stable, and highly resistant to wear. A porcelain crown provides the best natural color match to the rest of your teeth and is an excellent choice for front teeth. It may be more suitable for people with metal allergies because it does not contain metal.
Metal
Metal offers strength and endurance. However, the metallic color is the main drawback. Metal crowns are a good choice for “out-of-sight” molars. A metal crown may be recommended for back teeth where the forces of biting and chewing are the greatest. A metal crown rarely chips or breaks. In addition, it requires minimal removal of tooth structure.
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal
Porcelain-fused-to-metal combines the benefits of a natural surface color that resembles the rest of your teeth and the strength of a metal substructure. However, more wearing to the opposing teeth might occur with this crown type as compared with other crowns. The crown’s porcelain portion can also chip or break off. Next to all-ceramic crowns, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns look most like normal teeth. However, sometimes the metal underlying the crown’s porcelain can show through as a dark line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede.
