A crown is an artificial restoration that fits over the remaining part of a prepared tooth, making it strong and giving it the shape of a natural tooth. A crown is sometimes known as a ‘cap’. A dental bridge is a restoration that consists of more than one crown joined together to close a gap (missing teeth) between two supporting healthy teeth.
Crowns are an ideal way to restore teeth that have been broken, or have been weakened by decay or a very large filling.
A crown could be used for a number of other reasons, for example:
you may have a discoloured filling and would like to improve the appearance of the tooth.
you may have had a root filling which may need a crown to protect what is left of the tooth.
it may help hold a bridge or denture firmly in place.
Crowns can be made of a variety of different materials and new materials are being introduced all the time.
Here are some of the most popular options:
Porcelain bonded to precious or non-precious metal: this is what most crowns are made from. A precious or non-precious metal base is made and then porcelain is applied in layers over it.
Porcelain crowns: these crowns are made entirely out of porcelain and can look very natural and are most often used for front teeth.
All-ceramic crowns: this modern material is metal free. It can give the strength of a bonded crown and the appearance of a porcelain crown. This makes it suitable for use in all areas of the mouth.
Gold alloy crowns: gold is one of the oldest filling materials. Today it is used with other metals to increase its strength, which makes it a very hard-wearing restoration. These crowns are silver or gold in colour.
