Top Reasons You’ll Need a Dental Crown Treatment

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Top Reasons You’ll Need a Dental Crown Treatment

A dental crown, more popularly known as jacket crown, is a restoration that covers the tooth crown. It is a restoration, meaning it is placed over the involved tooth instead of inserted into the tooth like amalgams or composite fillings.

A dental crown treatment is made of metal, porcelain, or a combination of the two. Crowns are preferred over fillings in several situations, some of which are listed below:

Your tooth is badly broken down

A badly broken tooth, extensively destroyed by decay may not be amenable to a simple filling. That’s because it is already too weak, and ordinary restorations actually have a wedging effect that could further weaken it.

Therefore, a crown treatment is often necessary because it strengthens and reinforces the remaining tooth structure by “hugging” them together and provides protection against biting forces.

Your tooth is root canal treated

A tooth that requires root canal treatment (RCT) is usually already badly broken down. Add to that the amount of tooth structure removed during RCT, which makes the tooth weaker and more prone to fracture. The RCT-treated tooth may also get discolored over time. Unless RCT is intentionally done on a sound tooth, the usual minimum requirement in most RCT cases is full coverage restorations like dental crowns.

You have a large filling that
must need replacement

Large fillings indicated for replacement usually have recurrent decay underneath. Even if the decay is small, digging out the older restoration often means some tooth structure will have to be removed in the process.

Furthermore, the structure will be drilled out for preparation of the new restoration. This means only a small percent of the original crown structure will remain, making the tooth much weaker. Thus, a crown treatment would be more appropriate.

You are advised to replace a
missing tooth with a fixed bridge

Replacement of missing teeth may be done by means of removable dentures, fixed bridges, and dental implants. Removable dentures are the cheapest yet least desirable, while dental implants are the best but the most expensive.

Thus, the middle ground would be fixed bridges. The dental crowns serve as retainers that anchor the pontic (replacement tooth or teeth) to the adjacent teeth.

You have a dental implant

A few months after the surgery, your dentist will attach a dental crown on the exposed part of the implant.

Your tooth is fractured

A fractured tooth due to trauma or extensive caries is not indicated for a simple filling anymore. Instead, a post, core, and dental crown treatment are advised. RCT is also required. After RCT, a post will be placed inside the root canal of the tooth, followed by a core then the dental crown. The post may be prefabricated or custom-made depending on the case and preference.

You wish to improve the
appearance of your teeth

If your tooth is grossly discolored or unusually shaped, dental crown treatment is the perfect solution to improve its appearance. Even minor tooth rotations or malposition may be solved by dental crowns in lieu of orthodontic treatment.  Metal-porcelain crowns combine the strength and durability of metals with the esthetics of porcelain.