What Are the Pros and Cons of Dental Crowns?
What Are Dental Crowns?
They are oral restorations in dentistry that provide reparative solutions to damaged teeth. Dental crowns in Arkansas offer reinforcement to damaged teeth’ enamels to restore their strength and structure and ultimately boost their functionality.
A dental crown typically features a tooth-shaped tooth-colored porcelain material that encapsulates a tooth as a cap would. It is why dental crowns near you are sometimes called dental caps. However, dental crowns can vary in type, depending on the material. Other than porcelain, you can have a silver, porcelain-fused-to-metal, or a gold crown tooth. Although they serve a similar purpose, the different types of dental crowns vary in their advantages.
How Do Dental Crowns Work?
Dentists in Little Rock install dental crowns in a two-step process that happens during two different dental visits. On the first visit, the dentist will focus on preparing your natural tooth for receiving a dental crown. The preparation will involve numbing your mouth to make the process painless. Then, your dentist will start shaving your tooth’s enamel, removing all damaged tooth structures. While at it, the dentist will shave off as much tooth enamel as necessary to make room for a dental crown. This process is possible using a dental drill or laser tool. After preparation, the dentist will take impressions of the tooth, creating a mold that can guide the creation of your tooth crown in a dental laboratory.
The creation process of a dental crown takes about two weeks. Therefore, your dentist will place a temporary crown on your tooth before sending you home. The temporary crown will protect your tooth while the permanent one is in development. On the last visit, your dentist will install the dental crown using a dental bonding procedure. It entails using dental cement on the dental crown to adhere to the natural tooth.
How Do Dental Crowns Change Your Life?
When considering getting dental crowns at Knight Dental Care, we will ensure that you know all about them, particularly regarding advantages and disadvantages. Since dental crowns are not the only dental restorations in dentistry, one may wonder why they work so well. Some advantages of dental crowns are:
- Strengthen teeth – dental crowns reinforce tooth structures, making them sturdier than before.
- Improving the appearance of teeth – although dentists do not primarily use dental crowns in cosmetic dentistry, they have an incredible ability to transform your smile. Dental crowns can improve the appearance of your teeth in color, shape, and size.
- Strong material – dental crowns feature materials sturdy enough to withstand regular usage. Gold, silver, and porcelain are strong enough to protect your teeth while improving their functionality.
- Durability – dental crowns last long if you take care of your teeth after the treatment. Your crowns can last between 10 and 25 years, depending on the material.
- Natural-looking results – dental crowns can be sculpted to mimic the exact shape of natural teeth. If you opt for porcelain crowns, people will hardly notice the difference between the crowns and the natural teeth.
Disadvantages of Dental Crowns
Be realistic with yourself when resolving to get dental crowns so that you also learn about their cons. Some common disadvantages of getting dental crowns are:
- Invasive procedure – although you will not have to undergo surgery, getting dental crowns will be an invasive process. Compared to composite bonding or dental veneers, dental crowns necessitate the removal of a sizeable part of your tooth structure. Conservative patients may be a bit concerned about the procedure.
- Risk of nerve damage – when preparing your tooth, there is a significant risk of damaging the tooth nerves if the dentist files your tooth too thin. It is paramount to have your procedure done by an experienced and certified dental expert to minimize such risks.
- Tooth sensitivity – due to the dental work necessary to install a tooth crown, you may experience heightened sensitivity to hot or cold foods.
- They do not last forever – after a couple of years, you will need to replace your dental crowns. Unfortunately, the procedure is irreversible. Therefore, you can only replace the initial dental crowns with new tooth crowns.