Dental Crowns at Bellevue Family Dentistry in Green Bay, WI
Dental crowns are caps placed on top of damaged teeth. Crowns are to protect, cover and restore the shape of your teeth when fillings don’t solve the problem. Dental crowns are made of metals, porcelain, resin, and ceramics. They typically don’t require special care over time other than regular good oral hygiene.
You may need a dental crown for several reasons, including:
Protecting a weak tooth from breaking.
Restoring a broken tooth or a severely worn tooth.
Covering and supporting a tooth with a large filling and not much tooth remaining.
Holding a dental bridge in place.
Covering misshapen or severely discolored teeth.
Covering a dental implant.
Covering a tooth that has had a root canal.
During the first visit, the tooth that will receive the crown is examined and prepared. An
x-rays is taken of the tooth and the bone around it.
The tooth receiving the crown will be reduced in size across the top and sides of the tooth. This is because we are making space for the crown itself. If too much of your tooth is missing — due to damage or decay — a filling material can be used to “build up” enough tooth structure for the crown to cover.
After reshaping the tooth, a paste or putty is used to make a copy (also called an impression) of the tooth that will receive the crown. Impressions of the teeth above and below the tooth getting the dental crown will also be made. To make sure that the crown will fit your bite.
The impressions are sent to a dental laboratory. The laboratory makes the crowns and usually returns them to the dentist’s office in two weeks. During this first office visit, your dentist will make a temporary crown to cover and protect the prepared tooth while waiting on the permanent crown.
At the second visit, the permanent crown is placed on your tooth. First, the temporary crown is removed, and the tooth is polished clean. Then the permanent crown’s bite, fit, and the color is checked. Once the crown fit is done, the crown is permanently cemented in place.