Have you been suffering with dental pain because you’re worried about what restorative treatment will entail? Some patients think that the only way to restore the smile after a cavity, or even root canal treatment, is to get an unsightly gold crown. Others may already have crowns, which are causing sensitivity or even discomfort, but they don’t realize there are alternatives. Fortunately modern dentistry offers dental crowns made from a variety of materials, each of which can help address certain concerns, both functionally and esthetically. So if you want to restore your oral health, without detracting from your smile’s natural beauty, here are a few of the crown options now available.
What Options Are There?
While many dentists still offer metal crowns, most prefer alternatives, which are both strong, but also made to match smiles more seamlessly. This way the restorative treatment improves both the functionality and the appearance of the smile!
Porcelain is certainly one of the most popular materials for modern dental crowns, but it’s hardly the only option. Zirconia is another option, one which is also incredibly strong and natural-looking. Finally there are porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, which are frequently used for back molars, which get a lot of wear while chewing.
What Can a Crown Do for You?
Crowns are frequently used to protect teeth made fragile by wear, decay, infection or trauma. For instance, a crown can help protect a chip in a tooth from worsening over time. It can also help create a seal around a tooth after toot canal treatment, to prevent from bacteria from entering the tooth and infecting it once again.
But crowns are also useful as parts of dental prosthetics. For instance, both dental bridges and dental implants help complete a smile after tooth loss, often through the use of dental crowns.