Write-up by Sara Goldstein
One of the large benefits brought to us by cosmetic dentistry is increased option. In past decades, crowns had been made of metal, normally a gold alloy, and there was no choice. But today, most people are concerned that their smile not be marred by a metal crown, which is why white crowns are now preferred. White crowns are made of dental porcelain, a type of ceramic that looks virtually identical to tooth enamel.
Tooth crowns are also referred to as caps. When a tooth is too damaged to survive with just a filling, a crown is performed to give it new surfaces all around and to extend its life. If the tooth root has also been damaged, the space inside it, referred to as the root canal, can be cleaned out and filled with dental cement. This preserves it to anchor the crown and with very good dental hygiene, this bolstered root and the crown it holds can serve you for several years.
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crowns
For many decades now, PFM crowns (porcelain-fused-to-metal) have been used as a far more esthetically pleasing alternative to gold. When dental porcelain was initial introduced, it was not as strong as it needed to be for years of biting and chewing. So the porcelain exterior was bonded over a metal lining or framework which fitted over the tooth stub. Because the metal was dark in color, it was covered with an opaque layer to hide its color and the porcelain layer was placed over that.
This reduced the porcelain’s translucence. What makes dental porcelain look so much like tooth enamel is that they both absorb some light and reflect some, and that creates the pearly look of clean white teeth. With the metal lining and its covering beneath the porcelain, much less light is able to travel by way of, which gives a a lot more dull look to a PFM crown. Even so, it is still white and matched in shade to your natural tooth color.
All-Porcelain Crowns
A lot more recently, all-porcelain crowns have been provided by cosmetic dentists, and this sort of crown looks so significantly like a natural tooth that only you and your dentist know it is a crown. All-porcelain crowns have a ceramic lining, usually of zirconia (zirconium oxide). This gives you the double advantage of your crown having a more pearly-white appearance and also having no metal.
Over recent years, the all-porcelain crown has grow to be stronger and a lot more durable with this improved ceramic framework, so that now it is fully competitive with PFM crowns for long life.
Gold Alloy Crowns
Some cosmetic dentists still give gold crowns because, despite their obviously distinct appearance from natural teeth, they are still durable and strong. On a back tooth that is not visible in your smile, a gold crown can be a reliable restoration that does not damage the opposing tooth, by no means gets chipped, seldom breaks, and can serve you for decades. Gold crowns are not pure gold simply because gold by itself is too soft; they are a gold alloy with small amounts of other metals added for increased strength.
Porcelain Onlays
Quite often, a tooth is not damaged enough to will need a dental crown of any sort, but is too damaged to survive with just a filling. Cosmetic dentistry now gives an intermediate step: the porcelain onlay. There are also porcelain inlays but these are just white fillings. An onlay is larger and spreads over one or more outer tooth surface as well as filling a cavity. In other words, when a cavity is extremely big, a porcelain onlay can fill it and hold the tooth together without covering it entirely like a crown.
If you will need some very good dental work completed and are looking for an experienced and gentle cosmetic dentist in Colorado, please visit Dr. Scott Greenhalgh’s internet site.
About the Author
If you require some great dental work performed and are searching for an experienced and gentle cosmetic dentist in Colorado, please visit Dr. Scott Greenhalgh’s web site.
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