At Burgess Hill Dental, we understand the importance of a healthy and beautiful smile, and offer a range of crowns to help protect heavily restored teeth. A crown is a tooth-shaped ‘cap’ that is cemented over the top of the tooth to restore the shape and aesthetics of a natural tooth. We provide ceramic and all-porcelain crowns (Zirconia or Emax), and as such the aesthetics are excellent. Your crown often looks just like a natural tooth.
Get in touchThere are many reasons you may need a crown. These can be due to aesthetic considerations, but most are due to a lack of remaining tooth structure. If a tooth is broken down or heavily filled, a crown is placed to protect the tooth from the high biting forces we exert on our teeth whilst eating.
In many instances teeth can be restored with modern day white fillings, which are extremely strong. If the tooth is quite badly damaged from previous fillings or fractured, it may be quite difficult to build the tooth up by hand. In these cases, a superior result would be achieved by making a laboratory produced crown. Porcelain will provide better aesthetics and a stronger restoration that will last many years.
Often, we will recommend a porcelain onlay rather than a crown as these can achieve the same outcome with significantly less damage to the remaining tooth structure.
Want to learn more? Book a consultation today
Book me in!Ceramic crowns, also known as porcelain crowns, are custom-made hard shells that help to strengthen damaged or heavily filled teeth. These crowns are crafted from high-quality dental ceramic material, mimicking the natural colour and translucency of your teeth. They offer both strength and aesthetics, making them an ideal choice for restoring the shape and function of a tooth.
Get in touchNatural appearance: Ceramic crowns provide a lifelike appearance, seamlessly blending with your natural teeth.
Durability: These crowns are highly durable and can withstand the daily wear and tear of biting and chewing for many years.
Biocompatibility: Ceramic is biocompatible, making it a safe and well-tolerated material for dental restorations.
Precision fit: Each crown is custom-made to ensure a precise fit and optimal comfort.
Emax dental crowns are a popular and innovative choice in restorative dentistry. Renowned for their excellent aesthetic qualities and durability, Emax crowns are frequently used to restore damaged or discoloured teeth.
The material is known for its translucency, mimicking the natural appearance of teeth, making Emax crowns a great option for those seeking a lifelike smile. Beyond their cosmetic benefits, Emax crowns also boast strength and durability, offering a reliable solution for restoring function to compromised teeth.
The precise fit and natural look make Emax crowns a top choice for patients seeking both optimal oral health and cosmetic enhancement. We often recommend Emax crowns for their ability to blend seamlessly with surrounding teeth, providing you with a long-lasting and aesthetically satisfying solution for dental restoration.
Additionally, modern day resin cements are used to bond the porcelain to the tooth underneath, creating an extremely strong restoration. Unlike traditional porcelain bonded to metal crowns, Emax crowns can be predictably bonded to a tooth even when there is only a small amount of tooth remaining.
Zirconia is a different type of porcelain crown. It is made of a very strong core material that a translucent porcelain is then applied to. It is often used on back teeth when there is a problem with space between the teeth. As it has an opaque core, it is also often used when the tooth substance is very dark, such as in a dead tooth, to mask the discolouration. Sometimes Emax can almost be too translucent and so Zirconia can be used to make a tooth look more solid, but still with excellent aesthetics.
Previously the only alternative for strong tooth-coloured crowns was porcelain bonded to a metal substructure, a technique still used today. These often looked very creamy and lacked vitality as the silver metal had to be opaqued before more lifelike porcelains were added. Often, there was insufficient thickness to add enough of the lifelike porcelain in order to get more translucency. In addition, the metal part was made of semi-precious metals. Many patients would prefer not to have any metals in their mouth, except perhaps gold, which is of course extremely expensive. Modern porcelains are strong and so have no need for a metal substructure.
We first ensure that the internal structure of the tooth is intact and that there are no signs of infection or decay present. We prepare your tooth by removing a layer of tooth structure (between 0.5 and 2mm thickness) making sure we leave a strong core.
We take impressions of your teeth and record their colour so your crown can be made to fit perfectly. Between appointments, we often protect the prepared tooth with a temporary crown.
When your crown is ready, the temporary crown is removed and the new permanent one is fixed in place with a strong dental cement.
The latest advances in porcelain allows light to transmit through the crown, thereby creating a restoration that is virtually undetectable from the other natural teeth in your smile. With the absence of any metal core on the inside of the crown, there will be no black lines that are usually seen with the older metal ceramic crowns.
Book an appointmentThe best way to care for your crown is to stay on top of your oral hygiene – this means keeping your teeth and gums healthy by brushing with a fluoride toothpaste twice a day and flossing between your teeth as recommended by your dentist / hygienist. You also need to see your dentist regularly for check-ups so they can keep an eye on your crown and the tooth underneath.
You are able to choose the colour of your crown, although generally we would do this on your behalf, and if required discuss the choice with you. Colour can be extremely difficult to convey to the laboratory making the crown and photographs will often be taken to help with this. If you are considering having whitening treatment, you would be advised to have this treatment first, as whitening is not effective on crowns and your crown can then be made to match your new shade.
Tooth crowns are not permanent and will need replacing or repairing at some point. The treatment process is irreversible as some of your natural dental enamel is removed in order to accommodate the crown on top, so you will always need a crown on your tooth. Most crowns last for up to 10-15 years (or even longer) before natural wear and tear will likely cause the need for removal and replacement.
We use local anaesthetic to numb the affected area before preparing your tooth for a crown, and fitting the crown itself to make sure you won’t feel any pain. We take the time to ensure you feel relaxed and comfortable before beginning any treatment. Many patients find that having a crown is no more uncomfortable than a filling.
We’re here to help if you need us. Get in touch today - we’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Book your next appointment today
by Dental Design
