Dental crowns are an important treatment choice for people who have chipped or cracked teeth.
They can give you a treatment that is meant to last a long time. This keeps bacteria from getting into the hole in your tooth and lets you eat and drink normally.
Dental crowns are the most useful and visually pleasing way to replace real teeth, even though no artificial material will ever be as strong as your natural teeth.
What is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown can come in many shapes and sizes, but at its core, it is a tooth-shaped cap that goes over a broken part of a tooth to cover and protect it. In dentistry, crowns are a popular tool.
Dental crowns are made to look like the normal tooth and can be changed to fit the needs of each patient.
Crowns for teeth can last from five to twenty years, based on how well they are taken care of during that time.
What Does Getting a Crown Involve?
Even though putting on a dental crown is a very common and routine procedure, it will probably take more than one trip to the doctor to finish. A tooth crown can’t be put on in just one visit.
This is because it takes a few steps to make a tooth crown that fits your mouth well and looks just like your natural teeth. Most likely, the following steps will happen when you go to the doctor to get a tooth crown:
Your dentist will take care of your tooth. This may include taking out any damage that is on your tooth (or teeth).
After that, they will make a cast of your tooth so that they can make a crown that fits well and covers the damaged area.
After this first step is done, a temporary crown will be glued onto the broken tooth while the permanent crown is being made.
This crown is only temporary until your final crown is made, so you will need to take very good care of it.
Don’t eat anything too hard or sticky, because it could loosen the plastic crown. Most of the time, your cap should be ready to pick up within a week.
Types of dental crowns
There are many different types of dental crown for teeth. The type that will work best for you will depend on your personal tastes and the needs of your oral health.
Metal crowns
A few of the metals that dental workers use to make dental crowns are gold, palladium, nickel, and chromium.
Metal crowns are the least likely to break or chip, last the longest in terms of wear, and need the least amount of enamel to be taken off. They can also handle the pressure of being bit and chewed on.
The clear problem with this style of crown is that it looks like metal. Metal crowns are a great choice for the back teeth, which are usually out of sight.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns
Crowns that are made of porcelain bonded to metal, or PFM crowns, have the strength of metal and the look of porcelain. Dentists can match the color of these caps to the color of the patient’s real teeth.
Even though PFM crowns are strong, they do have a few weaknesses. For example, the porcelain covering can wear away over time, showing the metal underneath.
Also, the PFM crowns you have may slowly wear away the enamel on your opposite teeth. These are the teeth that touch your crown when you close your mouth.
A PFM crown lasts about the same amount of time as a metal crown. They can fix both the front teeth and the back teeth.
Pressed ceramic crowns
The middle of the ceramic that is crushed to make a crown is solid. It’s a lot like a PFM, except that the heart is made of ceramic instead of metal.
To make this inner core, a trained worker melts ceramic and packs it together at a very high temperature in an oven.
The frame is then covered with many layers of porcelain. Pressed ceramic crowns look like real tooth enamel because they are clear, just like all-porcelain crowns.
Crowns made of PFM and pressed earthenware both have the same problems. With time, the layers of clay can chip and break. Dentists use crowns made of pressed concrete on both the front and back teeth.
All-ceramic or porcelain crowns
All-ceramic or porcelain crowns can look the most like real tooth enamel out of all the different types of crowns. They are also a great choice for people who have metal allergies.
Lab workers use zirconium dioxide as one of the materials they use to make ceramic crowns. They also use a lot of other things.
Crowns made of zirconia last much longer than crowns made of other types of clay and can handle more pressure.
They are also gentle on the teeth next to the space being filled, so the enamel on those teeth wears down less.
Same-day dental crowns
CAD/CAM, which stands for computer-aided design and manufacturing, is a technology that many dentists use to make crowns in their office while customers wait.
With this program, your dentist will be able to make digital impressions of your teeth. These digital impressions can then be used to make a crown that fits your mouth perfectly.
After your dentist designs your crown, the picture files will be sent to a milling machine on the same property. The machine will use a single block of clay to make your brand-new crown.
One of the best things about CAD/CAM technology is that it makes it possible to make dental crowns in just one office visit.
On the other hand, same-day caps aren’t right for everyone. Ask your dentist if you’re a fit.
All-resin crowns
Dental crowns made from plastic are often less expensive than crowns made from other materials. On the other hand, they are more likely to break than porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns because they are not as strong.
Most of the time, dentists use resin to make temporary caps. They will live between three and five years on average.
Final words
A dental crown is a way to fix a tooth that can last for a very long time. Thus, you will have to keep the crown in your mouth for a long time. Obviously, you want to make sure that everything is done as well and as professionally as possible.
So, if you are thinking about the different kinds of dental crowns in Singapore and how much they cost, you should try not to go to the dentist who charges the least amount of money without first thinking about your other choices. Think about everything before making a decision.
Maybe it’s best to spend a little more money to be sure that the effects will be good and last. If you only choose the cheaper choices, you might get bad care, which will cost you more money, take more time, and make you feel worse in the long run.
You should also find out if your doctor is in the network of your insurance company or if they are not.
Even if your dentist isn’t in your insurance network, they will do everything they can to file all of your claims for you so that you can get reimbursed straight to your home after the treatment is done.
It’s possible that getting care from a provider who isn’t in your insurance network will improve the quality and happiness of your care as a whole.