A dental crown is a cap that is placed over a tooth to fully encase the visible portion of the tooth that sits above the gum line. As the cap is shaped like a tooth, it covers the tooth, helping to restore its shape and size while also improving appearance.
Placing a crown over a tooth may be recommended by your dentist for a variety of reasons. These reasons include: to replace a large filling where there isn’t enough tooth remaining, to protect a weak tooth from fracturing, to cover a tooth that has undergone root canal treatment, or, to hold a dental bridge in place.
Permanent crowns can be made from stainless steel, metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, all resin or ceramic. The type of crown your dentist recommends will vary on a case by case basis. For example, metal crowns are a good choice for out of sight molars while porcelain crowns can be used on all teeth as they better match a tooth’s natural colour.
Typically, preparing a tooth for a crown will involve two visits to the dentist. The first step involves examining and preparing the tooth. This will require X-rays and in some cases, where a tooth has extensive decay, root canal treatment to be performed.
During this visit, the dentist will reshape the affected tooth to make room for the crown, and make an impression of the tooth. These impressions will then be sent to a dental lab where the crown will be made. During this visit, your dentist will make a temporary crown to protect the tooth in the interim.
At the second visit to the dentist, the temporary crown will be removed and the final permanent crown will be cemented.
As each person will require a crown made up of different materials, costs can vary. You can expect to pay between $1000 and $1,500 for a single dental crown. A Super Smiles Dental team member will be able to give you a more accurate estimate upon consultation.
Getting a dental crown is a painless process. Thanks to dental numbing, pressure is the only sensation you might feel during the process of receiving a crown.
