If you’ve ever broken a tooth, then you’ve likely had a dental crown put on. What you may not know is what exactly a dental crown is and how they are used by the dentist. The dental crown itself is a very versatile dental application that works to restore the shape of a tooth as well as protect it from further damage and restore the patient’s ability to eat the foods they love.
A dental crown is used for a few different things depending on the needs of the patient. While most of us are familiar with crowns to cap a broken tooth, the dentist may decide on a specific type of crown for a particular reason. In fact, crowns are for much more than just fixing a broken tooth.
Knowing what a dental crown is used for can help when you have a dental situation that needs addressing. You may find that a crown is a viable solution for more than just one problem. A crown is not just a cosmetic procedure. It has more uses, such as preventing tooth damage and helping to support other dental applications.
Here are some of the more common uses:
This is what most people think of when they go to the dentist for a dental crown. Typically, when a tooth becomes broken, the dentist will file the damaged tooth down to a proper shape and then apply a crown to restore the tooth to its natural look and shape. Crowns come in a variety of materials, from composite materials that imitate real teeth to pure gold.
The “cap” is placed over the tooth and cemented into place using special dental cement so that it stays solid even when eating and drinking.
In some cases, the tooth may not actually be broken; it may be severely weakened due to damage from a large filling from a cavity or damage to the root system from having a root canal treatment. In these cases, the dentist may use a crown to help protect the remainder of the tooth from damage and support the chewing and biting surface to make eating easier and pain-free.
In cases where the tooth is not broken, the cap is fitted to cover the existing tooth instead of shaving the tooth down and then is cemented in place to provide a stable biting surface while the remainder of the tooth underneath is left alone.
In cases where a patient doesn’t have the bone or tooth structure to support certain dental applications like bridges or implants, the dentist may use a dental crown to help anchor the application and give it the proper support it needs to function properly. The crown is usually placed on top of an existing tooth adjacent to where the dental application is going in so that it can act as support without having an impact on the mouth any further.
These are just a few of the different uses that ad dentist has for a dental crown.
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