Crowns

When over half of a tooth is lost to decay, grinding, or fracture, the most ideal treatment is to restore it with a crown. A crown will cover the entire part of the tooth exposed in the mouth, so it is necessary to make the existing tooth smaller for the crown to fit on top of it. Crowns are made out of all-gold, all-ceramic, or it can have a base of gold with ceramic on top. Deciding which type of crown is right for you is a decision you make with your dentist.

A traditional crown usually takes two appointments. At the first, we prepare the tooth, we take an impression that we will send to the lab, and we make a temporary crown for you to wear while the lab makes the permanent prostheses. In two weeks, the crown will be ready and we will permanently cement it into place.

A new technology exists that can digitally impress, design and manufacture an all-porcelain crown in our office in just one visit. The CEREC system can be used in many cases to create a crown in one 90 minute appointment. We also have a glazing oven that allows us to use a type of pressed porcelain with comparable strength and durability to gold.