A crown is a tooth-shaped cap that fits over the whole visible portion of a tooth. Where a filling sits inside a cavity, a crown wraps around the tooth and holds it together — which is why it is the treatment of choice when a tooth is cracked, heavily filled, or has lost a cusp.
When a crown is recommended
Your dentist at Parkway Dental may suggest a crown after root canal therapy, when a large old filling is failing, when a tooth has fractured, or when years of grinding have worn a tooth down. The common thread is that too little sound tooth structure remains for a filling to be reliable. Crowns are also used to improve the shape or shade of a tooth that is sound but poorly formed, and to restore dental implants.
Materials
Crowns are made from ceramic, porcelain fused to metal, gold alloy, or zirconia. Ceramic and zirconia give the most natural appearance and are typical for teeth that show when you smile. Gold and other metal alloys are exceptionally kind to opposing teeth and very durable, which can make them a sensible choice at the back of the mouth. Your dentist will explain the trade-off for your particular tooth.
What to expect
The tooth is numbed and shaped to make room for the crown, removing roughly the thickness of the final restoration. An impression or digital scan is taken, the shade is matched, and a temporary crown is fitted while the permanent one is made. At the second visit the temporary is removed, the fit and shade of the new crown are checked, your bite is adjusted, and the crown is cemented into place.
Caring for a crown
Brush and floss a crown exactly as you would a natural tooth. The crown itself cannot decay, but the natural tooth underneath still can, particularly at the margin where crown meets tooth — that junction is the most important place to keep clean. Avoid chewing ice or using your teeth as tools, and wear a night guard if you grind. With good care, crowns routinely last ten to fifteen years and often considerably longer.