What is a dental crown?
Don’t be mistaken, a dental crown isn’t blingy, ceremonial headwear, rather it is a protective cap that’s placed on teeth needing a little more love than usual.
Why do teeth need crowns?
There are a number of scenarios where a dental crown may be needed. Largely crowns help to restore and protect damaged teeth but there are other reasons you may need one too:
- To rebuild a severely worn tooth.
- To restore a broken or cracked tooth.
- To make a cosmetic change such as to cover malformed or badly discoloured teeth.
- To cover a dental implant.
- To save a tooth where fillings aren’t an option.
- To protect teeth at high risk for decay.
- To hold a dental bridge in place; and
- To protect already weak teeth.
How long does it take to get a dental crown?
Traditionally, to be fitted with a crown it took several weeks with multiple dental visits. In fact, many dentists have no option but to still practise in this way: a combination of x-rays, diagnosis, rescheduling, preparation, moulding, temporary crowns and then final fitting.
At Cole however, we understand that you’d rather minimise your dental visits and maximise your time for all the good things… that’s why we’ve heavily invested in new, cutting-edge equipment to reduce both your time needed and inherent stress.
Introducing a new smile—pronto!
Now with your standard check a damaged tooth can be prepared for treatment and fitted in a single session. Our trail-blazing equipment is used to take a sophisticated 3D impression of your problem tooth. Our dentists then use the technology to design and build a new tooth perfectly customised to you. The crown is fabricated while you relax and when ready is professionally bonded to your troubled tooth—all in one visit or as little as 90 minutes!
What is a crown made of?
Traditionally crowns are built from metals—stainless steel, gold or alloys; or porcelain, resin or ceramics. Each material has its pros and cons. Some are only good as temporary options and others visually detract from a natural smile.
The great news is that the material we now use in our new crowns is a porcelain composite that closely resembles natural teeth in both look and performance.
The material is metal free and plaque resistant. It has a degree of inbuilt flexibility so that it can expand and contract with both hot and cool mouth environments which in turn reduces any points of stress. Because of this, we’re proud to say that our crowns provide a much longer lasting and natural looking solution.