Crowns

You have probably heard of Crowns or Caps in fact a good percentage of the population already have one or more of them. There are many different types of crowns but basically they are used for one or more of the following reasons:

• as a protective cover for badly decayed teeth or fractured teeth
• as a permanent restoration for teeth with large fillings
• to correct minor problems in natural teeth like spacing and irregular shape or severe discolouration.

Crowns originally were made of yellow gold and produced in a laboratory by what was known as “the lost wax method” A process that dates back thousands of years and were used in the making of gold jewellery, and still is. Gold crowns are still available today especially for back teeth, and as gold is inert they tend to last a lifetime. Of course, nowadays people would like something a little more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The two most common crowns are the Porcelain Bonded to metal crown and the all Porcelain E max or Zirconium crown. Bonded crowns have been around almost 70 years and on the whole, have been extremely successful. Its structure is a metal base or core covered with porcelain matching the colour to the surrounding teeth.

Zirconium or layered

The process for any crown is straight forward and can be done on most teeth. It amounts to two appointments the first appointment to reduce the underlying tooth so that the crown can fit over the tooth and an impression taken. The second appointment is to fit the crown and cement it in. Of course in the meantime you will be fitted with a temporary crown or crowns depending on what you are having done. The process is exacting but with local anaesthetic quite painless. The final result when the crowns are fitted generally justify the apprehension of having it done.
Crowns can be made from a variety of materials. They can be made from plastic, ceramic or metal alloys. A combination of metal and ceramic is also possible to maximise strength and simulate the appearance of natural teeth. If aesthetics is the primary concern then Zirconium Crowns generally ticks all the boxes.