If your teeth are weak, eroded, cracked, or otherwise damaged, sometimes the best possible solution is a dental crown. These are custom made caps that fit over the entirety of a tooth like a suit of airtight armor. Unlike veneers which only attach to the front of your teeth, crowns can essentially add or complete a tooth no matter what your dental situation is.
If your dentist has recently recommended dental crowns or your online research has suggested that these might be the answer to your current dental concerns, it may help you to understand what crowns are and what they can do for you before you make the decision.
1) Protect a Weak or Damaged Tooth
Enamel is something that you can only work with. It doesn't grow back and, in fact, most damage done to your teeth won't really heal on its own.
If you have a weakened, cracked, or otherwise damaged tooth that is no longer up to the rigors or normal activities like eating or breathing particularly cold air, a crown may be your best answer beyond removing and completely replacing the tooth. Even badly cracked teeth at risk of falling to pieces can be held together, protected, and supported by a custom fit crown.
2) Reinforce a Bridge
Missing a tooth can be one of the most annoying experiences in an adult life. Whether you lost the tooth on a grand adventure or it simply never grew in after the baby tooth fell out, sometimes you'll need something called a bridge.
A bridge is essentially a fake tooth suspended between two real teeth which are anchored by dental crowns. The crowns hold onto the teeth on either side and connect directly to the fake 'bridge tooth', allowing you to complete your smile without dentures.
3) More Attractive Shape and Color of a Crowned Tooth
Whether you don't like the shape of one of your teeth or it got severely chipped in an earlier incident, a crown has the unique ability to fit snugly and safely over the tooth you don't like while the outside of the crown is shaped and colored to smoothly match the rest of your smile.
This allows you to forgo extensive dental surgery in favor of a little cosmetic correction. After all, if they both chew effectively and look good as part of a smile, you'll be happy with your teeth.
4) No Denture-Like Slipping
Many people whose teeth have seen better days choose to go with a collection of crowns rather than traditional dentures for more than one reason. One benefit is that your tooth care habits don't have to change for crowns but they do for dentures.
However, perhaps the most irritating side effect of some dentures is the potential to slip out of place. With crowns, your teeth can't be out of place because they are attached to the original teeth.
5) Improved Diction and Enunciation
You never realize how much you need your teeth to speak clearly until you don't have them to work with. Even if you're missing one molar on the side of your face, it can significantly affect how well you can be heard and understood. Diction and enunciation represent an effort to define and say things correctly.
When you have a full set of teeth, you may find that even your loved ones can understand you more clearly and that you have an easier time with syllables that may have given you trouble in the past.
6) Relieving Dental Pain or Discomfort
One of the major draws of dental crowns for almost any patient is tooth pain. Cracked teeth, uncomfortably thinned enamel, and post-filling pain can all be quite distracting and upsetting.
Crowns act as armor to protect these now-sensitive areas and once closed off from exposure, the pain and discomfort should settle down quickly. Not all toothaches can be solved with dental crowns, but usually, the more severe cases have something to benefit.
7) The Confidence of a Complete Set of Choppers
Finally, knowing that your teeth were damaged or incomplete may have been holding you back more than you realized. If you're trying not to smile with your lips open, seeming subdued at work, or are always self-conscious in romantic situations, you could easily be missing opportunities to shine and dazzle those around you.
Even if you've missed some in the past, take this opportunity to look into dental crowns which can improve your experience with your teeth for the rest of your life.
For more great tips, advice, and news on dental crowns or cosmetic dentistry, contact us today!
