If you have damaged, flawed, or vulnerable teeth, you might be wondering about cosmetic dental crowns. Can they give you an engaging smile? Will they improve the overall health and strength of your teeth and gums? Do regular dentists perform this service?

What Kind Of Dentists Work With Dental Crowns?

Cosmetic dental crowns are a dental restoration procedure used by cosmetic dentists. Crowns can strengthen, protect and vastly improve the appearance of teeth when other types of dental restoration cannot solve the problem. 

What Is Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry is any procedure that enhances the appearance of your teeth, gums, and bite. A cosmetic dentist can improve the size, color, shape, alignment, and position of any tooth that’s undermining your smile. The most popular cosmetic dentistry procedures are implants, teeth whitening, veneers, and crowns. 

What Are Cosmetic Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are helpful when other restorative procedures cannot correct a defect in one or more teeth. Because teeth deteriorate slowly over time, imperfections can appear at any age. 

Teeth can look misshapen, discolored, poorly aligned, or smaller in size. Injuries, cavities, gum disease and trauma can all cause teeth to shift in their sockets and destroy even the brightest smile. 

Dental crowns are like gloves that completely cover an endangered tooth. Crowns can be made of porcelain, metals, resins, or ceramics. Once in place, they are easy to maintain with daily dental hygiene. 

What Do Dental Crowns Treat?

Crowns are designed to supercharge your smile while providing vulnerable teeth with all overall-over cover. They protect and restore teeth when fillings are not enough. 

Cosmetic crowns can rebuild badly damaged teeth that are reduced to nubs. They banish tooth discoloration caused by decay. Implant-supported crowns and bridges can replace teeth that fall out or are too far gone to save.

Protecting vulnerable teeth from exposure to harmful mouth bacteria reduces the potential for further damage and decay. 

How Are Cosmetic Dental Crowns Used?

Cosmetic crowns look completely natural. By encasing the entire tooth in a protective sheath, crowns can transform a worn-away nub into a perfect tooth.

Your dentist will remove any damaged or decayed parts of the tooth before reshaping it. The tooth will be prepared by removing part of the enamel and reducing the tooth’s overall size. This is accomplished by grinding down enough of the tooth to permit the crown to enclose it. 

A dental impression will be made and used to design the crown. You’ll receive a temporary tooth to wear until the permanent crown is completed. 

When the permanent crown is ready, your dentist may perform an X-ray to confirm that it’s a good fit. If it is, the permanent crown will be cemented into place. 

Why Are Crowns Important In Dentistry?

Crowns save lives. They keep their teeth alive and help them to survive. Tooth loss causes surrounding facial bones to dissolve over time. Bone loss alters the structure of the lower face. Additionally, it compromises the integrity of the remaining teeth. 

Bone loss occurs in the alveolar bone that surrounds and supports each tooth. The alveolar bone consists of ridges in which teeth are anchored. These ridges begin to atrophy after a tooth is lost. Bone loss also occurs in the jawbone and worsens over time. Without the bones that hold teeth in place, there is nothing left to support the face. 

When people with full dentures remove their appliances, you can see the effects of bone loss. The lower half of the face will sag, and there will be puckers around the mouth that resemble a zipper. Fortunately, bone loss due to tooth loss is completely preventable by replacing lost teeth with dental implants. Teeth that are still alive can be saved by crowns. Intact teeth, even when badly damaged, are still supported by a healthy bone structure. 

A good cosmetic dentist will do everything possible to preserve a damaged tooth. Crowns preserve deteriorating teeth when nothing else will. In some cases, a crown is the only thing holding an injured tooth together. 

Implant-supported crowns and bridges can replace missing teeth. Bridges are inserted where teeth are missing and anchored to healthy teeth on either side of the bridge. If those teeth are weak, they can be strengthened with crowns and then used to anchor the bridge. 

When Does It Make Sense To Get A Dental Crown?

 

Exposed and injured teeth are likely to break, chip, crack or decay. Crowns are an ideal way to protect and preserve those teeth, and the cosmetic enhancement can be stunning. Cosmetic dental crowns are a highly effective treatment for badly shaped, chipped, broken, discolored, poorly aligned, and improperly positioned teeth. Crowns make sense for teeth that have survived significant decay and injury but are still firmly anchored in the jawbone. Crowns are the treatment of choice when there is not enough tooth left to receive a filling. 

Cosmetic Dental Crown Pros and Cons

 

Dental crowns make the most of what’s left of a damaged tooth. However, they cost between $500 and $3,000 per tooth depending on the materials used. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure?

Cosmetic Dental Crown Pros

• Crowns can transform a lackluster grin into a million-watt smile.
• They protect vulnerable teeth from further damage and decay.
• Crowns are less invasive and less expensive than dental implants.
• They can prevent tooth loss and associated bone loss.
• Crowns make teeth stronger.
• Porcelain crowns are naturally stain-resistant.
• Crowns can relieve pain caused by nerve damage.
• They can last for 30 years or more.
• Crowns can correct aesthetic issues.

Cosmetic Dental Crown Cons

• Crowns can cause nerve damage if teeth are filed too thin.
• Abrasive crowns can damage other teeth and increase sensitivity.
• Improperly placed crowns can cause decay, infection, and TMJ.

If you’re curious about what crowns can do for you, contact the friendly team at Gardens Family Dentistry to discuss the possibilities. 

References:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/dental-treatments/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/10923-dental-crowns