Dental Crowns Springfield
High-Quality Restorations for Damaged Teeth
While tooth enamel is the hardest substance in your body, it can still break. Sadly, a damaged tooth lacks the means to repair itself – but luckily, Dr. Gramse is here with the restorative solution your smile needs! With a well-made dental crown, our team can not only repair your tooth but also protect it from additional harm. If you have a broken, cracked, or decayed tooth and think you might need a dental crown, call us today.
Why Choose Dr. Laura Gramse Family Dental Care for Dental Crowns?
- Lifelike, Durable Porcelain Restoration
- Dentist with Decades of Experience
- Quality Care for Patients of All Ages
What is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a type of dental restoration that is shaped like a tooth. It is meant to be placed on top of a natural tooth, completely covering it and restoring its shape, size, and function. There are many materials that can be used to make dental crowns, but our team prefers porcelain due to its highly natural appearance.
Dental crowns have many possible uses. They can repair an already damaged or decayed tooth, hold a weakened tooth together, and replace a missing tooth when combined with a dental implant. Some people have dental crowns placed for cosmetic reasons, such as to hide a misshapen or discolored tooth.
The Dental Crown Process
When you commit to getting a dental crown, you can expect the process to take at least two visits. During your initial appointment, we’ll take a small amount of enamel off your tooth; this will help ensure that there’s plenty of room for the final restoration. After the tooth has been prepared, an impression of your mouth will be captured. You’ll be given a temporary crown to keep your tooth safe while the impression is sent to a trusted dental laboratory.
Over the course of a few weeks, your permanent crown will be created. Once it’s ready, it will be sent to our office, at which point we’ll schedule your second and final appointment. The temporary crown will be removed so that the permanent crown can be cemented in place. Our team will give you tips for taking care of your new restoration to help it last as long as possible.
The Benefits of Getting a Dental Crown
If it’s determined that you need a dental crown, it’s generally recommended that you have it placed as soon as possible. Doing so will allow you to enjoy the following benefits:
- The protection offered by the crown will prevent the damage to the tooth from growing worse and possibly leading to an even more severe oral health issue.
- Your chewing ability will be improved thanks to the restored function of the prepared tooth.
- A lifelike porcelain dental crown can repair the tooth so seamlessly that most people won’t be able to tell it was ever damaged in the first place.
Dental Crowns FAQs
Are Dental Crowns Permanent?
Although they aren’t technically permanent, dental crowns are certainly a long-term solution. On average, they can protect your teeth from anywhere from five to fifteen years.
Please be aware that when Dr. Gramse reshapes your tooth for a dental crown, that procedure is irreversible, as tooth enamel cannot grow back once it has been lost. Thus, that tooth will always need to be protected with a crown going forward.
Crowns protect your underlying tooth from additional damage, helping it survive for much longer than it would have otherwise.
You can keep your dental crown in excellent condition for many years to come by taking good care of it with daily oral hygiene, regular checkups and cleanings with Dr. Gramse, and by wearing a mouthguard or nightguard if necessary.
How Long Do Dental Crowns Last?
On average, you can expect your dental crown to last between five and fifteen years; however, this will vary depending on the material the crown is made from, and how well you take care of it.
Metal crowns generally last longer than other materials, but this isn’t always the case. Furthermore, the difference is usually negligible.
More so than the material, the longevity of your dental crown will depend on a variety of factors, including your diet, oral hygiene, and whether you have any bad oral habits like smoking, nail-biting, teeth grinding (bruxism), crunching ice cubes, etc.
Crowns on front teeth may last slightly longer than crowns placed on molars, as these teeth are not subjected to as much wear and tear from chewing.
How Do You Know When a Dental Crown Needs to Be Replaced?
The only way to know for sure whether your dental crown needs to be replaced is to have X-rays taken or to have it visually examined by Dr. Gramse. That said, there are several warning signs that may indicate your crown is approaching the end of its lifespan, including:
- Pain: if you have decay present underneath the crown, it must be removed so the cavity can be treated. From there, Dr. Gramse can evaluate whether your crown can be reused, or if it should be replaced completely.
- Instability: if your crown feels loose, especially when chewing on something sticky, contact Dr. Gramse at once.
- Worsening appearance: if your crown is chipped or discolored, it can negatively impact your self-confidence, which is reason enough to replace it!
- Dark line at the base: with a porcelain-fused-to-metal crown, the porcelain layer may chip off or wear away, revealing the darker metal portion. This is an important indicator that your crown has experienced a great deal of wear and tear and could need to be replaced.
Do Dental Crowns Get Cavities?
Technically it’s impossible for a dental crown to develop cavities because it is man made. However, the tooth underneath it still can. In fact, a crowned tooth still has about the same risk of decay as an uncrowned tooth!
Poor oral hygiene makes it possible for bacteria and plaque to form around the gumline, where the crown meets the tooth. They can then travel underneath the crown, wreaking havoc on the underlying tooth.
You can prevent new cavities from forming in crowned teeth in the same way you’d prevent them in any other tooth: with daily brushing and flossing, and regular exam and cleaning appointments with Dr. Gramse.
