Dental Crowns

A crown (cap) is a restoration that is placed on teeth that have lost a significant amount of their structure.

There are many different types of crowns, full ceramic, full porcelain, porcelain fused to noble metal, porcelain fused to high noble metal, porcelain fused to semi-precious metal, and full metal crowns.

Where conventional cemented crowns tend to chip, loosen from wear, or completely pop off when the cement dissolves under the crown, Emax and Lava crowns are bonded to the tooth rather than cemented, have a stronger compressive strength, so the longevity of the crown is increased a tenfold.  They are made of either zirconia or monolithic lithium disilicate ceramic, tough materials that hold little chance of chipping and are created with a special milling machine that adds to their precise fit.  Esthetically, there is no metal margin at the edge of the Emax or Lava crowns, so if recession occurs, it is still pleasing to the eye.

The process of making crowns includes many steps that start in our office with preparing the tooth.  Depending on your case, you may or may not need certain preparation procedures.  Once prepared, we take impressions from the tooth/teeth involved. Then a temporary crown or bridge is placed on your teeth.

The impressions are sent to our lab. In the lab a mold of the teeth is poured and the work begins. 

There are multiple steps and different technicians work on the mold to fabricate a crown or bridge. The completed work is sent back to the office and after the necessary checks and adjustments are made, the crown is either cemented or bonded onto the tooth.