Porcelain Crowns: A Long-term Fix-It for Damaged Teeth

Crowns are used for both restorative and cosmetic purposes. They strengthen weak teeth to prevent them from crumbling, repair damaged teeth to restore their usefulness and restore a severely decayed tooth when there simply is not much healthy tooth structure left. Your Columbus dentist will also crown a back tooth after root canal treatment to reinforce its fragile structure and protect your investment in that tooth long-term. Some front teeth following root canals also need protection, but a lot of that depends on how hard it gets hit when talking and chewing and also how much healthy tooth structure is present. But do not fear! Drs. Devon Paris, Awaz Yaseen, and Cindy Rask will help you figure this out and explain all the questions you may have!

The procedure for getting a crown is fairly straightforward. A portion of the tooth around the outside and on the chewing surface is removed to allow for a “cap”–very similar to a beanie being put on a person’s head–to fit onto the tooth and still allow the patient to bite normally. Enough tooth structure has to be removed in order for the crown to be strong enough to withstand our very strong bites and the grinding from our stressful jobs and lives. In addition to the above, there may be some cavities in the tooth that caused the need for the crown in the first place!  If this is the case, then your dentist will remove all the cavities from the tooth, prepare it for the filling, and place the “Core Buildup” – a fancy word for a filling that goes under a crown! Once the crown prep and cavity removal are complete, the well-trained assistant takes over to make the short-term crown that will stay on the tooth for ideally only two weeks. The assistant will also use our dental technology cart to scan the prepared tooth for our dental lab. Once the scans are complete, they are digitally sent to the dental lab so they can fabricate the crown. The lab works endlessly to design a crown that closely resembles your natural tooth in color, size, and shape so it can blend in with your smile and function well when chewing. After the initial crown preparation appointment, the patient leaves with a short-term crown and a crown seat appointment about two weeks after the crown preparation appointment. The crown preparation appointments typically take anywhere from one and one-half hours to two hours, and the crown seat appointments typically take anywhere from one to one and one-half hours.

With good oral care and continued maintenance with our hygiene department, a crown, on average, can last anywhere from 10 to 13 years before needing to be replaced. Although the crown that you see can not be attacked by the bad bacteria in your mouth, the part where the crown meets up with the tooth can! In order to keep the bad bacteria and a recurring cavity from happening around your crown, you must do your part in keeping the area clean! This includes brushing, flossing, water flossing regularly, and keeping up with your routine dental cleanings. You can also protect your crown from chipping or cracking by avoiding hard and sticky foods and not using your teeth like tools–so no opening up bottles!

If you live in or near Columbus, GA, you can contact Drs. Devon Paris, Awaz Yaseen, and Cindy Rask from Gentle Dentistry of Columbus to schedule a consultation for porcelain crown treatment. We can be reached at (706) 321-4330.