Life happens even when you try your best to prevent accident or injury. When it comes to your teeth, you may do your best to protect your teeth from decay and damage, but it can still occur. If your tooth gets damaged or becomes severely decayed, it may require restoration. Restoring your tooth with a crown can protect the tooth from further damage. It can also restore the tooth’s appearance, and restore the abilities to chew, bite, or speak. Leaving a tooth damaged without restoration increases your risk of further damage. Further damage for a vulnerable tooth could lead to a dental extraction.
A dental crown is also known as a cap. It acts like a permanent helmet for a vulnerable tooth. Crowns can be made of materials like porcelain, zirconia, metal, or a combination of porcelain-fused-to-metal. The material used to make the crown usually depends on where in the mouth the crown will be used. Because porcelain has a very lifelike appearance, it may be used in the front of the mouth. It is not as durable or strong as the other materials, so it may not be the first choice for crowning molars. Molars do most of the heavy chewing, so crowns covering these teeth often require a more durable material.
Traditional methods of creating a crown involved sending a mold of your mouth and tooth to an off-site lab. The third-party lab would create a crown and then would send it back to your dentist’s office. This process would usually take one to two weeks. In that time, you would wear a temporary crown. With E4D PlanScan technology, your dentist can use advanced digital technology to take an accurate scan of your mouth. The crown is created in the office, which will allow your crown to be fitted in the same visit that the scan took place.
A dental crown can protect a vulnerable tooth. To schedule a consultation with Austin Prosthodontics in Austin, TX, call 512-250-9444. We also proudly welcome patients from Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Leander, and all surrounding Texas communities.