A dental crown is basically a helmet or hat that sits over a tooth to cover the whole surface. It is used to improve the cosmetics of teeth, protect them from fracturing, or to build up a tooth that is broken. It also creates a good seal for the tooth after it has had root canal treatment.
The dentist will grind down the tooth in order to create space for the crown to fit over the tooth. If this is not done, the crown will be very bulky and will interfere with your bite. After the dentist has ground the tooth down, he or she will need to place a temporary crown.
A temporary crown serves the following functions:
- It seals the tooth and protects it from bacteria attacks.
- It makes the tooth look better, which is important for front teeth. Here at Sensational Smiles, we spend a lot of time to ensure our temporary crowns look great and they always look just as good as our final crowns.
- It protects the tooth from cracking.
- A well-shaped temporary dental crown that fits well makes it easy for you to clean around the tooth and will prevent plaque formation. This helps when the final crown is cemented, it will be clean, and the gum will be nice and healthy.
- Temporary crowns, especially on front teeth helps your dentist to test the cosmetics and bite. At Sensational Smiles, we spend a great deal of time ensuring that the temporaries are perfect and look great. Once we have done this, it is easy to achieve excellence from the final crown, as all we have to do then is copy the design of our temporary. If you are unhappy with the temporary, we will adjust it until it is perfect and then the final crown will be perfect as well.
- It stops the tooth from moving. Once the tooth is ground down, it will often move a little, as it likes to be in contact with other teeth. Placing a temporary crown will stop this from happening.
After the crown has been made by the dental laboratory, the old crown is removed. This should be a simple process and sometimes the tooth does not need numbing. The new final crown is tried in your mouth and the fit, bite and cosmetics are all checked, along with many other things. Once your dentist and you are happy, it is cemented in place.
