Everyone’s teeth sustain damages over time for various reasons. You may have injured your tooth, have tooth decay, or may have damaged your teeth by regular use. You may think it practically impossible to restore your tooth to its former condition and resign to live with the damages. However, you will undoubtedly change your thinking if you visit 14th Avenue dentistry providers of excellent solutions to suitably cover your damaged teeth using dental crowns. Dental crowns are teeth caps placed over the damaged teeth. Crowns are helpful to protect, cover, and restore the shape of your teeth if dental fillings are inadequate to solve the problem. Porcelain, ceramics, resin, and metals help make dental crowns suitable for restoring your teeth. A tooth crown fits snugly over your teeth after placement to restore the tooth’s size, shape, strength, and appearance.

When Can You Have Dental Crowns over Your Teeth?

You can consider dental crowns for several reasons, like protecting a weak tooth from breaking or keeping it together if it’s already cracked, covering and supporting a tooth with large fillings without much tooth structure remaining, and restoring a broken or severely worn down tooth. If you recently had root canal treatment to remove dental infections within your tooth, the treatment would have rendered your tooth fragile. In such cases, the dentist in Markham, ON, recommends protecting the weak tooth with a dental crown. Besides, the above dental crowns also help support dental implants and dental bridges besides helping you hide a severely discolored tooth unresponsive to teeth whitening treatments.

What Is the Procedure to Get Dental Crowns?

If you decide to get a traditional dental cap, you must visit dental crowns in Markham, ON two times for the restoration. The first visit is to have the tooth needing the crown examined and prepared. The dentist takes x-rays of the tooth and bone surrounding it before giving you local anesthesia to start the preparation. Filing the tooth’s tops and sides is essential to accommodate the dental crown. How much tooth structure removal you undergo depends on the type of crown you select. Metal crowns don’t require extensive tooth structure removal than porcelain or porcelain fused to metal crowns. After preparing your teeth for the crown, the dentist takes impressions of the tooth to have your permanent restoration created in a dental lab. You receive temporary crowns over the prepared tooth for protection and must wait for about three weeks before you can get the permanent crown. You can schedule another appointment with the dentist after the dental lab returns your permanent restoration. The second appointment is for temporary crown removal and fitting of the permanent crown. You may receive local anesthesia during the placement if required to numb your tooth and prevent discomfort. If you think the dental crown procedure requires too much time, you can inquire about a CEREC crown with the dentist. Dentistry advances now allow dentists to provide same-day crowns fabricated in the dental office using CAD/CAM technology. CEREC crowns don’t eliminate the tooth preparation process but undoubtedly prevent the need for temporary crowns. The dentist in Markham, ON, uses a scanning device in the same-day crown procedure. The digital pictures of your mouth enable the computer’s software to create a 3D model of a tooth. The digital design is transferred to another machine in the office to carve out the shape of the crown you need from a block of ceramic. Same-day crowns are created and bonded to your tooth in one visit helping you save time and money from the procedure.

What Kind of Care Do Dental Crowns Need?

As mentioned earlier, dental crowns don’t need any special attention. However, it helps if you remember the underlying tooth structure remains susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease. Therefore you must practice excellent dental hygiene, including brushing twice daily, flossing at least once, specifically around the crown area where your tooth and gums meet. You must prevent the habit of biting on hard surfaces to prevent cracking porcelain crowns. Dental problems have a lifespan of between five and 15 years. The lifespan of dental crowns depends on the wear and tear the restoration is exposed to and your dental hygiene practices. If you habitually chew on ice, bite your fingernails, or use your teeth for purposes other than eating and chewing, the restoration will likely need replacements faster. Therefore you must protect the dental restoration in your mouth as best possible to avoid needing frequent replacements.