Don’t forget about your teeth, or they’ll forget about you!
Dental Crowns: Restoring Your Smile’s Strength and Beauty in Albuquerque
Has a damaged or decayed tooth affected your confidence and chewing abilities? Dental crowns might be the perfect solution. At Haggerty Dental, we offer various types of dental crowns to Albuquerque residents, restoring smiles to their full health and function.
What is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped “cap” that fits entirely over your existing tooth. It strengthens and protects the remaining tooth structure, restores its shape, and improves its appearance.
Why You Might Need a Dental Crown
- Severely decayed tooth: When a large filling can no longer support your tooth.
- Broken or cracked tooth: To prevent further damage and hold the tooth together.
- After a root canal: Crowns protect the weakened tooth structure.
- Cosmetic enhancements: Crowns can conceal severe discoloration or oddly shaped teeth.
- Dental implant support: A crown serves as the replacement tooth atop a dental implant.
The Dental Crown Procedure
- Preparation: Your dentist will reshape your tooth to make room for the crown. Impressions or digital scans are taken to create a model.
- Temporary Crown: You’ll receive a temporary crown to protect your tooth while your permanent crown is made.
- Fabrication: A dental lab carefully crafts your crown to match your surrounding teeth.
- Placement: Once ready, your dentist removes the temporary crown and permanently bonds the new crown in place.
Types of Dental Crowns
At our Albuquerque practice, we offer a range of crown materials to best suit your needs and budget:
- Gold Crown – this type of crown can be an alloy of gold, nickel, chromium, and others. Due to the strength of the all metal crown, less tooth structure must be removed, and structural integrity of the tooth is maintained. Metal crowns withstand the forces of chewing very well and tend to last longer than other types of crowns, however some feel that they are not as aesthetically pleasing. For this purpose they work great as crowns for the furthest back teeth. These teeth are not as easily visible when you open your mouth, but are very important for chewing.
- Porcelain fused to Metal Crown – this type of crown has an underlying layer of metal with a tooth colored porcelain on top. The crown color can be matched to the color of your neighboring teeth, and offers a very esthetic result. The metal gives the crown a much stronger structure, and the porcelain restores your smile with a more natural looking tooth.
- Ceramic or Porcelain Crowns – this type of crown allows for the regeneration of optimum appearance of a tooth being replaced. There are different fabrication processes and different materials available (feldspathic porcelain, alumina reinforced porcelain, lithium disilicate, zirconia.) Ceramic and porcelain crowns are most commonly used for front teeth.
- Composite Resin Crown – this type of crown is commonly used for a temporary crown. Composite resin crowns are more prone to fracture and do not possess the same strength or longevity that metal, ceramic, and porcelain crowns have.
Caring for Your Crown
Your crown functions just like a natural tooth! Practice excellent brushing and flossing habits, and maintain regular visits to your Albuquerque dentist for cleanings and checkups. With proper care, your crown can last many years.
Restore Your Smile Today
If you think a dental crown might be the right solution for you, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with Haggerty Dental. Our team will evaluate your dental health, discuss your options, and create a personalized treatment plan to restore your smile.
