At Eckhardt Dental Centre, our Penticton dentists use dental crowns to help correct significant tooth damage and prevent further deterioration.
What is a Dental Crown?
Dental crowns are hollow, artificial teeth designed to restore a damaged tooth's original shape, size and colour when they are placed over an entire decayed or damaged tooth.
Dental crowns can help to improve the strength, appearance, and function of a broken tooth that may otherwise be lost.
Made from a variety of materials including porcelain and metal, crowns are strong and can look and function like natural teeth. If cared for properly, crowns may even last 10 years or more.
Uses for Dental Crowns
Your dentist may use a dental crown to restore a tooth that has experienced so much damage or decay that large portions of it must be removed.
Dental crowns may also be used to attach bridges, to cover dental implants, or to restore a tooth after other dental procedures, such as root canals. Your dentist may also place a crown for cosmetic reasons, such as to lighten a discoloured tooth.
The Crown Procedure
A dental crown procedure generally requires two dental appointments. During the first appointment, your dentist will prepare your tooth and take an impression, which will be used to create a custom crown. You may be fitted with a temporary crown while your crown is being made.
You will return for a second appointment once your custom crown is ready. The temporary one will be removed and the new one will be placed and sculpted just for you, so that your bite and jaw movements function normally.