Dentistry involves a lot of procedures that are done on a daily basis. These include fillings, root canals, extractions, and dental crowns. Dental crowns are caps used to cover the tooth and protect it from harm, but exactly what is a dental crown? How is it made? Who is it for? All are questions we answer here.
What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown – also commonly known as a cap – is an artificial structure that is used to cover the tooth to protect it from harm. When it is placed on top of the teeth, it absorbs all the forces from biting and chewing, relaying very little to the tooth underneath and effectively protecting it against breakage.
Who are Dental Crowns For?
The main purpose of dental crowns is teeth protection. Dental crowns are needed for teeth that are vulnerable and could get harmed due to the biting forces of the jaws. These situations include:
1. Root Canal-treated Teeth
After a root canal, the teeth lose their source of nutrition, vitamins, and minerals. For that reason, they become vulnerable and fragile. Therefore, they need a dental crown.
2. Teeth with Large Cavities
Modern tooth fillings are very strong and can be placed virtually in every situation. However, they do have limits. When the size of the cavity is large, so much so that a traditional filling cannot hope to restore teeth function and shape, a crown can be used to cover the tooth and restore its original form.
3. Badly broken down and decayed teeth
The same principle as above applies when the tooth is broken down either by trauma or decay. A crown is better than traditional fillings to protect the teeth for a longer period.
How are Crowns Made?
The tooth needs to be prepared first to receive the crown. This is done with the dental turbine, making the tooth slightly smaller. After that, a mold is taken to replicate that preparation and sent to the laboratory. The lab pours the mold and uses specialized techniques to formulate a crown to replicate the original form of the tooth. That completed crown is returned to the dentist, who cements it on top of the prepared tooth.
In the modern day and age, technology has facilitated crown manufacturing greatly. Nowadays, the mold is taken digitally with a specialized camera. In addition, the crown is manufactured using highly precise computers that can have the crown finished on the same day.
Dental crowns are one of the cornerstones of dentistry and are one of the most needed dental procedures to protect any tooth that is deemed weak and vulnerable.
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