Crowns (Cap)
Dental crowns are tooth shaped caps or coverings, cemented on to natural tooth. These are done for various reasons such as-
- To restore severely decayed or broken (fractured) teeth when there is not enough tooth structure left to do a filling
- To restore Dental Implants
- To support Dental Bridges
- For cosmetic reasons such as aligning crooked teeth or to restore severely worn out teeth
- After root canals. Teeth are known to become brittle after a root canal procedure as the tooth no longer has its blood supply intact and thus are more prone to fracture under the stresses of chewing food
Dental crowns can be of different types depending upon the material used to fabricate the crowns-
- Metal crowns- Consisting of full metal structure, they can be base metal or noble metal crowns. Base metal crowns are not the preferred choice as they are known to cause allergies in people sensitive to nickel, chromium or cobalt. They also tend to irritate the gums surrounding the crown. High noble metal crowns on the other are more bio-compatible and are less prone to allergies. The main disadvantage of metal crowns is that they are not tooth colored and are not esthetic.
- PFM crowns- Porcelain fused to metal crowns consist of an inner metal core and an outer covering of porcelain making them durable and esthetic as they look just like your natural teeth.
- All Porcelain Crowns- These crowns are the most esthetic of all and mimic natural teeth. They are metal free, so they don't cause allergies triggered by metals.
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