Dental crowns are restorations for your damaged natural tooth. Crowns help restore the shape of the tooth besides its function and size. Dental crowns are not permanent restorations and have limitations on their longevity. However, you can stretch the crown’s lifespan by taking appropriate preventive measures.
In this article, we focus on the different kinds of crowns and their longevity and give you the warning signs indicating replacements for the crowns are becoming inevitable.
The Purposes of Dental Crowns
The American Dental Association (ADA) confirms that dental crowns prove helpful in strengthening if you have a tooth with extensive fillings but without adequate tooth structure. Dentists also recommend crowns to restore a broken or cracked tooth, protect a weak tooth from breaking, attach dental bridges, cover dental implants, and restore a tooth rendered fragile after root canal treatments.
Various materials help make dental crowns, but some materials last longer than others.
Essential Information about Different Dental Crowns and Their Longevity
The life of a dental crown is approximately a decade. However, you can extend their longevity by several years when correctly fabricated and cared for. When selecting a suitable crown for your needs, the dentist in Richmond, TX, considers this material’s strength, durability, and aesthetics to determine which restoration best suits your requirements. In addition, the dentist also considers factors like the location of your damaged tooth, how much of the natural tooth structure remains, and the visibility of the crown when smiling. The materials that help make dental crowns include gold, porcelain fused to metal, lithium disilicate, and zirconia.
Zirconia crowns are classified as the strongest because they are made from zirconium dioxide, and the durability of these crowns makes them resistant to fractures. With proper care and appropriate dental hygiene, zirconia crowns last 10 to 15 years or more.
Porcelain fused to metal crowns are also widespread and the most natural-looking option for restoring damaged teeth. Over the last six decades, porcelain fused to metal crowns has been the most frequently recommended aesthetic solution for teeth. Unfortunately, porcelain is susceptible to chipping, and with time, the metal margin on edge becomes visible with gum recession. Porcelain fused to metal crowns last between five to 15 years.
Lithium and silicon help make a robust variety of glass ceramics. Dentists use lithium disilicate to fabricate crowns in-office with the latest technology. It indicates that you can get a dental crown over your damaged tooth in one visit instead of two. Lithium silicate crowns are becoming popular because of their strength and the adjustments available for transparency. In addition, these crowns are aesthetically pleasing and fit well at the margins bonding correctly to the tooth. These crowns also have a lifespan of five to 15 years or longer.
Gold crowns have been a material of choice for over a century because of their strength and resistance to chipping and breaking. Gold crowns last over a decade, but their lifespan can be extended to decades with proper care. Unfortunately, these crowns are not aesthetically pleasing because of their color, and dentists consider this option for molars that remain invisible when smiling.
Is the Dental Crown Procedure Painful?
Getting your tooth restored with dental crowns near you or any other restorative material will undoubtedly cause discomfort because the dentist must remove tooth enamel past the dentin and have the crown fabricated from a dental laboratory. In addition, while you receive acrylic crowns to cover the prepared tooth, you must care for it appropriately because the temporary restorations are unfit for everyday use and can fall off to need replacements.
You must endure the temporary acrylic crowns for about three weeks until the dental lab returns your personalized restoration. After that, you can revisit dental crowns in Richmond, TX, for placement of permanent restoration over your tooth after removing the acrylic crowns.
Do All Cracked Teeth Need Crowns?
No, not all cracked teeth need dental crowns. However, if the crack is severe, the dentist recommends covering the tooth with a crown to prevent your mouth bacteria from penetrating the cracks and creating damage within the tooth. Therefore dental crowns are suggested only if your tooth has a severe break that might harm the tooth and create additional damage.
Depending on the material used for the dental crown, their lifespan is generally around 10 to 15 years. However, you can extend their lifespan to decades with appropriate care and excellent dental hygiene practices.
If your tooth is damaged and needs restoration, Charm Dental — Richmond provides different dental crowns best suited for your needs. Instead of leaving your tooth untreated, kindly do not hesitate to contact this practice today to get the tooth fixed at the earliest.
