A dental crown serves a prosthetic purpose in the restoration of your tooth. Crowns are custom made to fit your tooth, blending in with the shape, size (and sometimes colour) of your surrounding teeth.
Our dental team has extensive experience in restoring smiles through a variety of methods. Why wait to smile with confidence again?
The Process For Getting A Dental Crown
There are a few types of dental crowns available. An oral assessment and consultation with one of our dentists will determine if a crown is the right treatment for you and if so, which type would suit you best.
Porcelain Crowns
At The Happy Tooth, we have the latest digital technology (CAD-CAM) for making crowns. Our high strength and aesthetic porcelains are used to make dental crowns in-house for the majority of our patients. The crowns are made in one visit, which is approximately 2 hours long. This means you get to leave with the treatment complete with no need for messy impressions.
Gold crowns
Gold crowns have been used for many decades and still make the strongest and most durable dental crowns. Gold is soft on opposing teeth and wears like a tooth. This makes gold crowns a good choice for people who grind their teeth or who have extensive wear.
Maintaining Your Dental Crown
Your dental crown can last many years if you care for it properly. To maintain your dental crown, treat it as you would your natural teeth. This should involve a good dental hygiene routine at home that consists of brushing and flossing. Keeping up with regular dental check-ups will help you extend the life of your dental crown too.
Good oral hygiene and oral health will prevent any decay from forming underneath your crown and gum disease from affecting the soft tissues surrounding it.
Dental Crown FAQs
Our friendly front desk team is more than happy to answer any questions you may have. For quick reference, here are the answers to some questions about dental crowns that we get asked often:
What is the difference between a dental filling and a dental crown?
A dental filling is used to fill small holes in your tooth as a result of decay or other damage. A dental crown goes over the top of your tooth to restore structure, function and/or aesthetics. Sometimes a tooth that has been heavily filled will need a dental crown to protect it- but they are not the same thing.
How is your tooth prepared for the crown?
Before the process for making your crown begins, your dentist will anaesthetise the area. The next step involves filing the tooth down to make space for the crown to fit over it. The filing mostly takes place along the chewing surface and sides of your tooth. The amount of preparation your tooth needs will depend on the type of crown you are receiving. If you have a large area of your tooth missing, instead of filing down your tooth, your dentist will use a filling material to build up your tooth to support your dental crown.
Does getting a dental crown hurt?
At The Happy Tooth, our dental team does all they can to make you feel as comfortable as possible at all times! The process for getting a dental crown is done under local anaesthetic which means you’ll hardly feel anything at all. Getting a dental crown at The Happy Tooth is nothing to be worried about!
Can a dental crown fall off?
Sometimes crowns do fall off. However, more often than not, this is because of an improper fit or a lack of cement. If you happen to have your dental crown fall off, contact your dentist immediately.
