A crown is a tooth-shaped cap that fits over a damaged or weakened tooth and restores its shape, its strength and its appearance. We offer porcelain, ceramic and metal-ceramic crowns, each made to match the colour and outline of the teeth around it.
When a crown is the right choice
- A tooth that is more filling than tooth and keeps breaking
- A tooth that has had root canal treatment, which leaves it more brittle
- A cracked tooth, to hold it together and stop the crack spreading
- A badly worn, misshapen or discoloured tooth that a filling or whitening will not improve
- On top of a dental implant, or as the supports of a bridge
Where enough healthy tooth remains, a filling, an inlay or an onlay removes less of it. Your dentist will tell you when one of those would do the job.
What happens
A crown usually takes two visits.
- First visit. The tooth is numbed and shaped to make room for the crown. An impression or a digital scan records the prepared tooth and your bite, and the shade is chosen against your own teeth. You leave with a temporary crown.
- In between. The crown is made to that record.
- Second visit. The temporary crown comes off, the new one is tried in, checked for fit, bite and colour, and cemented in place once you are both happy with it.
Choosing the material
All-ceramic and porcelain crowns have no metal and look the most like natural enamel, which matters on front teeth. Metal-ceramic crowns have a metal core under the porcelain and have been used for decades on back teeth, where the biting forces are greatest. Your dentist will recommend one for the tooth in question and explain the difference in cost.
Looking after a crown
A crown cannot decay, but the tooth beneath it and the gum around it can. Brush the join between the crown and the gum as carefully as any other tooth, clean between the teeth every day and keep up your hygiene visits. Avoid biting ice, pens and bottle tops with it. If you grind your teeth at night, a guard protects the crown and the teeth opposite.
Common questions
How long does a crown last? Many last ten years or more. It depends on the tooth underneath, on your bite and on how well it is cleaned.
Will it look like a crown? A well-matched one is hard to tell from the teeth beside it.
My temporary crown has come off. What now? Keep it and call us. It is there to protect the tooth, so it should be put back soon.
