Dental Crowns
Hillsboro, OR
At Hillsboro Dental Center, we can provide strength and increase a tooth’s durability using a dental crown. Working as a cap, a crown is placed over a tooth that has been weakened due to cracks, fractures, cavities, or other dental work including a root canal therapy procedure. Dental crowns are customized to a precise shape that will fit your mouth, and fit your bite. Dr. Roberts will give you the look, feel, and function of your natural tooth, saving you future problems, while protecting the natural tooth underneath. DENTAL CROWNS PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
| • | Restoring the tooth's original shape and size, even if it is currently missing a large portion |
| • | Reduce future decay from settling on the underlying tooth |
| • | Provide strength to a weakened tooth |
| • | Prolong the life of a tooth that may otherwise be lost. |
WHAT IS A TOOTH CROWN?
Crowns for your teeth work as a shield strengthening the natural tooth structure. They protect, cover, and provide stability to a weakened tooth structure. The placement of a tooth crown may seem like an expensive procedure but the long run savings compared to other restoration or even extraction options is considerable. Over time, the placement of a crown can actually be the most cost effective option.
Crowns are available in various materials, traditionally, dentists have offered metal, porcelain, or a combination of both. Newer options including resin materials or Zirconia. The differences in crown options include:
| • | All porcelain, this material is commonly preferred due to its tooth color. In the past, dentists feared the strength of this material but due to new porcelain options, we now are able to place all porcelain crowns even on back teeth without worry of fracture! Though they can eventually break, the lifespan of new porcelain crowns is significant. These crowns are even used in patients who have problems with grinding or bruxism. With the advances in porcelain crowns, most patients are electing for these crowns. |
| • | Porcelain fused to metal, patients like knowing that the metal underneath provides a stronger tooth. What patients do not like is that with time, the thin coating of porcelain can chip and break, exposing the metal, or making the tooth look like there are dark spots, or dirty spots, on the tooth. |
| • | Gold, has traditionally been a dentists preferred option for crowns on back teeth. The feel of a gold crown is very similar to your natural tooth. With a slight softness to it, gold crowns will feel most like your tooth when biting. Gold is a strong, durable option, but is gold in color. Many patients would prefer to hide their dental work as much as possible, and it is hard to hide a gold tooth. Gold crowns also tend to be more expensive than other options. A benefit to gold crowns includes the ability to remove less of the natural tooth structure for placement. |
| • | Zirconia, increasingly becoming a popular choice, zirconia is an all ceramic crown that is durable and long lasting. Patients love the translucency of the material, helping it blend with the rest of your teeth. Zirconia is stronger than porcelain, up to five times stronger. The disadvantage of this material is that it is such a hard object that it may not offer the same comfort that gold does. |
If a tooth crown is needed, Dr. Roberts will discuss your options and what type of crown would be best for your situation.
SHOULD I JUST HAVE THE TOOTH EXTRACTED?
Extraction sounds like a cheaper and easier option than restoring a tooth. At Hillsboro Dental Center, we never recommend tooth extraction unless all other options have been exhausted. Saving your tooth with a dental crown will provide you with much better long term success and be a less expensive option in the long term. Extraction sites allow tooth shifting, affecting your bite, and immediate bone atrophy, both of which will lead to many more appointments, and only puts off the inevitable repair process.
For more information on dental crowns, contact one of our two dentists,
John T. Roberts, DMD, PC
At our Hillsboro, OR 97124 office. (503) 648-2829
