Understanding the Benefits of Ceramic Dental Crowns
When it comes to the benefits of ceramic dental crowns, many people think they’re only useful in cases where a tooth is so damaged it needs to be removed. While that is one use for them, there are actually a lot more benefits you can get from having this type of dental restoration. Ceramic dental crowns are made from materials like porcelain and are used when the existing restorations of a tooth need to be replaced. This is usually because of factors like decay or cracked teeth. This piece will go into further detail about what exactly these kinds of crowns do for your smile, as well as their pros and cons. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of ceramic dental crowns.
What Does a Ceramic Crown Do?
Ceramic dental crowns are a type of dental restoration that’s put on the outside of a damaged tooth. It’s a strong piece of material made out of high-quality porcelain to fit over the top of the tooth. This crown helps to protect the tooth while restoring its shape, structure, and strength. A crown can also be used to cover a stained or discolored tooth that needs to be restored. This type of dental restoration is placed on top of the existing tooth structure, both inside and out. It can be used to repair a tooth that’s chipped, cracked, or severely discolored. A crown can also be used to replace a tooth that’s lost due to decay or trauma. It can even be used to cover a dental implant.
Repairing Chipped Teeth
Ceramic dental crowns are often used to repair chipped teeth. In this case, the dentist will remove the damaged area of your tooth, make sure that the rest of the tooth is healthy enough to stay in place, and then cover it with a crown. The crown serves two purposes here. It’s used to repair the chipped section of the tooth and it’s used to protect the remaining tooth from further damage. Chipped teeth can eventually lead to decay if they’re not treated, so it’s important to get them restored as soon as possible.
Fixing Cracked Teeth
Cracked teeth can be fixed with a ceramic dental crown as well. In this case, the dentist will remove the badly cracked tooth, clean out any remaining tooth that’s still in place, and then cover the empty space with the dental crown. Cracked teeth are often treated with dental crowns because they’re at a higher risk of breaking completely in half. If that occurs, you’ll have to get a bridge or a root canal to replace the missing piece of your tooth.
Replacing Discolored Teeth
If a tooth is severely discolored, it’s usually best to remove it and replace it with an implant. However, many people want to keep their teeth, even if they’re discolored. In this case, a ceramic dental crown can be placed over the tooth to hide the discoloration. A dental crown can also be used to replace a tooth that has a large filling. This is especially common for people who get silver fillings.
Silver fillings can discolor teeth, so a crown can be used to hide the color. Since these stains are caused internally (intrinsic) and not on the outside of the tooth (extrinsic) they must be whitened from the inside. This is usually done by putting a bleaching agent into the empty chamber from which the pulp was removed. Usually the bleaching agent is a substance called sodium perborate.
Restoration of Lost Teeth
When a tooth is lost, it can be challenging to replace it. This can be especially difficult when there is a gap between teeth that needs to be bridged. However, dental crowns can be used to replace lost teeth. In this case, the dentist will remove nearby teeth to create space for the replacement tooth. The space created by removing teeth can be bridged with a dental crown to support the new tooth.
Summing up
Ceramic dental crowns offer many benefits for your smile. They can be used to repair chipped teeth, fix cracked teeth, replace discolored teeth, and restore lost teeth. Crowns are created specifically for each individual tooth, which makes them a more customized solution than other restorative dental treatments.