While a dental crown procedure is sometimes needed for aesthetic reasons, a dental crown is the ideal restorative treatment for a tooth with extensive decay or damage. It is also used as coverage for a tooth that’s undergone root canal therapy or after a dental implant. Because it is placed to cap and fully cover a tooth, a dental crown procedure can restore the appearance, rebuild the structural integrity and preserve the tooth. If you are considering undergoing a dental crown procedure but aren’t quite sure how the process works, this guide will help. We’ll give you a rundown of the dental crown procedure as a step-by-step guide so you can see what needs to be done and when.
Carry on reading to learn more about the crown on-tooth procedure and to find out if it is a suitable treatment for your smile.
Getting Started With Dental Crowns
The first step of the dental crown procedure is to determine if it is a suitable treatment for your dental needs and goals. For this, our dental team will comprehensively assess your oral health and the tooth’s condition through digital X-rays. Our dentist can assess the extent of the decay and if the tooth is still restorable with a dental crown procedure.
Dental crowns are used if the damage is too extensive for restoration with simple dental fillings. A crown can be the difference between keeping a tooth and losing it. So, to prevent tooth loss and its consequences, a dentist will likely recommend a dental crown procedure.
Planning The Crown Treatment
Once the crown-on-tooth procedure is approved, the X-rays help us map out your treatment plan. This is not the same for every patient, as some may need the removal of decayed tooth parts, while others will only need to have their tooth reshaped.
Choosing Your Dental Crowns
Choosing the right dental crown procedure depends on the patient’s requirements and the severity of the problem with the tooth. At No Gaps Dental, we offer several styles that should cater to all patients’ preferences and budget limitations. These include:
- Metal-porcelain
- Porcelain
- Ceramic
- Metal
- Zirconia
When selecting the material, specific considerations will come into play like:
- The position or location of the tooth
- How much of the tooth is on display when you smile
- The position of your gum tissue in conjunction with the tooth
- The primary function of the tooth that requires a dental crown
- How much of the original tooth remains intact
- The colour of surrounding teeth
- Patient preferences
- Budget
The location is the primary consideration when choosing crowns for the tooth crown procedure. Ideally, if the crown is to cover a front tooth, the material of choice should have superior aesthetics. For this, our cosmetic dentist recommends porcelain, ceramic, or zirconia.
However, reliable durability should be the top consideration if the tooth requiring restoration is at the back of the mouth. Crowns that can deliver in this aspect are metal and metal-porcelain.
If you are unsure which to choose, discussing your goals and expectations for the tooth crown process with a dentist is best. This way, they can recommend the ideal route to achieve that.
Prepping The Tooth
After discussing the treatment plan and deciding the type of dental crown you want, the dentist will prepare your tooth. Preparation involves removing all decay and reshaping the tooth to optimise its structure to receive the bulk of the crown.
The dental crown procedure requires trimming down the entire tooth circumference. The amount of tooth structure to remove depends on the chosen material.
Taking A Mouth Impression
After prepping the tooth, the next step of the crown-on-tooth procedure is to take dental impressions to create a mould of your dentition. From this, a dental lab will make the customised crown for you.
During the wait time, a temporary crown made from acrylic or resin material will protect the tooth’s structure until the patient undergoes treatment. It will be placed over the prepared tooth to prevent damage and infection until the permanent restoration is ready to be fitted.
Remember, it won’t be as lifelike as your new permanent crown, but it will allow normal eating and chewing, although you may need to exercise caution when it comes to chewy or sticky foods. A temporary crown gives you an excellent chance to try it for bite and comfort, and you can make the required adjustments before the permanent dental crown is attached. Once your temporary is in position, that’s your first visit completed.
The whole first visit, from start to finish, should not take any longer than a couple of hours. Your permanent dental crowns should take a couple of weeks to fabricate, so your dentist will call you back as soon as they are delivered to the clinic. In the meantime, you’re free to continue your everyday life.
Second Visit and Permanent Dental Crown Fitting
After a couple of weeks, any permanent dental crowns should be returned from the dental lab after a couple of weeks and ready for your fitting. Our dentists will check the fit for adaptation and bite. With an excellent fit, we can now remove the temporary crown and cement the permanent, custom-made crown in place.
Glue is applied, and we place the crown over the tooth. We will ask our patients to bite to check their teeth are meeting together correctly before allowing the crown to set in position.
At No Gaps Dental, we create beautiful dental crowns that match the surrounding teeth, blending seamlessly into the smile. No matter the type of dental crown, we use first-class materials and pay extra attention to detail to help patients achieve an attractive smile that can withstand the test of time.
CEREC Same-Day Dental Crown: A Convenient Alternative
Aside from the traditional crown-on-tooth procedure, we offer CEREC crowns at No Gaps Dental. CEREC is short for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics — an innovative digital technology we use. This advancement allows us to create durable and natural-looking all-ceramic crowns in just one appointment.
CEREC crowns are often made of strong and durable ceramic, designed and installed using computer-assisted technology. Dental practices that fit CEREC crowns use computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) to capture digital images of a patient’s tooth and jaw. The images used to design custom-made dental crowns are ready to fit there and then, right?
CEREC Crowns vs Traditional Crowns
Compared to a traditional tooth crown procedure, which requires at least two dental visits, x-rays, additional waiting time for dental crowns to be created and may require another treatment, like a root canal, to prepare a tooth for a cap to be fitted, CEREC crowns offer patients a faster solution.
A conventional dental crown procedure is more cost-effective than treatment that uses CAD and CAM to construct and fit a tooth cap. However, CEREC crowns can be fitted as part of a tooth crown procedure and completed in a single dental appointment.
Compared to other dental crowns, a CEREC tooth cap is a more advanced ceramic solution virtually indistinguishable from the remaining natural teeth. The biggest benefit of CEREC crowns is that patients can walk into a dental practice and have a tooth crown procedure on the same day. CEREC crowns are a more convenient solution, and compared to a traditional tooth crown procedure, which often requires filing a crown to get the right shape, they are designed to match the exact profile of the tooth to which they’re fitted.
Some of the most significant advantages of CEREC over conventional dental crowns are:
- More accurate and comfortable fit
- Faster treatment time
- Convenient and comfortable dental crown procedure
- Less invasive, ideal for tooth preservation
- Cost-effective process
Our in-house CAD/CAM technology allows our dentists to design, create, and bond CEREC dental crowns while you wait. So, patients can enter our clinic and come out looking and feeling confident with their brand-new smiles. You must consult your dentist if CEREC is right for you. CEREC is made of ceramic material, so this is best for restoring teeth that are visible when you smile. If you want dental crowns placed on the back teeth, porcelain-fused-to-metal or all-metal dental crowns may be more suited for you as these have better structural reinforcement.
The Benefits of a Tooth Crown Procedure
A dental crown procedure protects against further decay and can support teeth that have been weakened or damaged. Dental crowns can improve the appearance of a tooth that is chipped, misshapen, worn down or stained, restoring it to its natural shape and brightness.
CEREC crowns can help to improve a patient’s confidence in their smile, restore the tooth’s integrity and protect the health of a tooth long-term. Dental crowns can last up to 15 years with proper care if patients maintain good oral hygiene and visit their dentist biannually for exams and hygiene cleanings.
According to research, CEREC crowns provide a more reliable restoration of a patient’s tooth.
Dental Crown Procedure: Key Takeaways
To sum it up, the tooth crown procedure involves a series of steps that are done in succession to create a long-lasting, functional, and natural-looking restoration.
At No Gaps Dental, patients can have a traditional crown or a modern CEREC restoration. Both methods create beautiful, natural-looking crowns but differ in the process and treatment time.
Our dentist will gladly explain both options to help you understand their pros and cons, determine which fits your budget, and produce the best results for your needs.
Finding the Right Dentist for a Tooth Crown Procedure
Patients need to find a dentist who explains the entire tooth crown procedure and the options available and has a treatment plan. Understanding the procedure and knowing the plan helps to put patients at ease with their dental crown procedure.
Going to the dentist makes many people nervous, so choosing a dental practice that is accredited and highly recommended is something patients should look for in a dental practice.
The location of a dental practice is vital, too. If a patient chooses a more traditional dental crown procedure, which requires more than one visit, having a dentist that is close by makes treatment more convenient.
Smile with Dental Crowns at No Gaps Dental
No Gaps Dental has 15 dental centres in Sydney, each open six days weekly for reliable, effective oral care. We offer traditional and CEREC tooth crown procedures that are affordable, accessible and convenient.
No Gaps Dental follows the strictest hygiene guidelines, and our professional team of dentists adhere to all health and safety measures to protect our patients during a tooth crown procedure.
We have a wide range of dental crowns and other restorative dentistry services available at No Gaps Dental. These treatments will preserve your tooth’s natural beauty, enhance your smile, boost your confidence, and improve your overall quality of life. Read our blog to learn how long crowns on teeth last.
To book your appointment, call us on (02) 8007 6727 so we can schedule you to visit one of our multi-location clinics in Sydney.