Porcelain Crowns
Richmond, VA
 Patients with damaged or decayed teeth have various options for restoring their teeth. You may get dental fillings to repair decayed or cavitated teeth. Dentists consider using porcelain crown if fillings, onlays, or inlays do not seem to work to protect the teeth. Our dental team at Riverwind Dental will initially do an evaluation before okaying the use of a dental crown. If we ascertain that crowns are an ideal choice for you, we will schedule you for the placement procedure.
What are Dental Crowns?
Crowns are tooth-like caps fitted atop damaged or decayed teeth to provide protection, enhance appearance, and improve teeth functionality. They are placed after cleaning a decayed tooth. These restorative and preventive dentistry procedures are crucial for fostering the health, function, and look of a bite.
Dental Crowns Installation Procedure
Our dentist begins the process of porcelain crown placement by sedating you. Administering a numbing substance helps make you relaxed and comfortable as the dentist conducts the crown placement procedure. Our dentist files away surface areas of the tooth or enamel so that adequate space is available for the crown to fit correctly without exerting pressure on the other teeth. Before fitting the dental restoration, you may need a root canal, particularly if there is damage, infection, or inflammation in the pulp. Removing decayed and infected or damaged pulp and filling the tooth ensures that the tooth remains healthy after receiving crowns.
We place temporary crowns, allowing you to go home with protective crowns that you use as the final crowns get fabricated. The temporary crowns will serve while we are fabricating the final, permanent crowns. You will have the short-term crowns for roughly two weeks, the timeframe it takes to make your final crowns. Thereafter you will check in for the second appointment to get the final crowns secured. We remove the short-term crowns and place and cement the final crowns.
How Long Will Your Dental Crowns Last?
On average, a dental crown will endure for five to 15 years. But the lifespan may depend on how well you observe your oral hygiene practices. The amount of wear and tear you expose the dental restoration to and your mouth-related habits such as chewing ice, grinding, clenching, and using the teeth to open packaging containers are other things that determine the longevity of the crowns.
Dental Issues that Crowns Resolve
Dental crowns are a relatively simple yet effective treatment option for a broad range of oral issues. Common oral issues that a porcelain crown resolves include:
Large Fillings
Cavities that were treated in the past can be remedied using crowns, especially when these fillings were repaired using large fillings. Large fillings weaken the teeth and might lead to further breakage. When it is time for the fillings to be replaced, then the dentist might recommend getting a porcelain crown on the teeth instead.
Cracked or Broken Teeth
These are teeth that have sustained cracks in places that mean they can no longer withstand the consistent pressure of normal use, like chewing and biting. The dental crown tends to restore the structure and operability of the teeth.
Decayed Teeth
Teeth that have been severely decayed might end up being extensively damaged structurally. Cracked or broken teeth may no longer have the structural integrity to stay intact during the chewing and biting processes. They will eventually end up cracking or breaking. Rather than fill them with composite materials, encasing them with crowns might restore their structural integrity, giving them additional strength.
Enamel Repair
The enamel grows and becomes very strong, but it can often be slowly worn out when one engages in overconsumption of acidic foods, when brushing and flossing are done overzealously, or in cases where there is tooth grinding. Since the enamel cannot be naturally replenished, the next best thing to emulate the enamel would be to cover the teeth with a crown. This is a process that would require the removal of damaged enamel such that the dental crown attaches snugly and offers a more natural outcome.
Caring for Crowned Teeth
No special care may be needed for the dental restoration, however, you need to protect the tooth beneath the crown from gum disease and decay just as you do to the rest of the teeth. Ensure proper oral hygiene by brushing and flossing normally. Make sure you focus on the crown areas where the tooth meets the gum tissue.
Also, do not bite on hard surfaces like popcorn hulls and ice so that the crowns do not crack or get damaged. Lastly, keep up with the scheduled twice-a-year appointments to our office for cleanings and oral inspections. Our dentist will need to check how the crowns are functioning and if there may be anything ruining their form or the health of the underlying teeth and the other teeth and gums.
Benefits of Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are extremely beneficial to the health of teeth. First and foremost, they help to relieve pain. When the enamel or structure of a tooth is compromised, a dental crown is frequently used as the final step in a restorative treatment plan. Because of these issues, the tooth may become sensitive and delicate to hot or cold.
When a dentist fills a cavity, performs a root canal, or does another treatment on a tooth, the remaining tooth structure has to be protected. A dental crown can stop additional decay and relieve pain if a tooth is gravely damaged.
Second, in addition to their health benefits, dental crowns have significant cosmetic benefits because they are custom-made for each individual patient. Although a porcelain crown is primarily used to repair broken or decayed teeth, it can also be used to spruce up the appearance of a smile. Because it encases the existing natural tooth, a porcelain crown can immediately correct discoloration, misalignment, chipping, cracking, and fractured teeth. Because of these benefits, dental crowns are sometimes used to achieve aesthetic dental goals.
Further, the dental crown procedure is a relatively simple process. This makes it one of the most preferred solutions for dealing with issues such as tooth chipping, discolorations, and small fractures. Dental crowns are minimally invasive and their quick turnaround time and simplicity of the procedure are what make the process as favorable as it is.
Visit us at Riverwind Dental to find out your options on dental crowns. Call us at (804) 280-0853 to schedule an appointment.
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