What types of crowns are available?

Permanent dental crowns can be made from metal, porcelain fused to metal, ceramic, or gold. A dental crown may be used in the following situations:

Protecting a weak tooth from breaking or to hold together parts of a cracked tooth
Cover/support for a tooth with a large filling
Holding a dental bridge in place
To cover discolored or misshaped teeth
To cover a dental implant

The crowns fully encase the entire visible portion of the tooth that lies at the gum line. Metals that are used when preparing dental crowns include gold alloy, metal base alloys like palladium, or other alloys including chromium and nickel. Compared to other types of crowns, metal crowns require less tooth structure to be removed and less wear on opposing teeth. Metals also withstand chewing and biting forces well and in terms of wearing down, usually last the longest. Metal crowns usually do not chip or break and are a great choice for covering molars.

Metal can also be fused with porcelain and matched to the color of your adjacent teeth. Patients experience more wear and tear on the opposing teeth with these types of crowns. The porcelain part of the crown is also able to be chipped or broken. However, next to all ceramic crowns, the porcelain fused to metal crowns look most like natural teeth. Many patients choose these types of crowns for front or back teeth.

All porcelain or all ceramic dental crowns provide the best color and textural match and is more suitable for patients with metal allergies. However, they are not as strong as porcelain fused to metal crowns and can wear down opposing teeth more than gold crowns tend to. The most popular choice for front teeth are all ceramic crowns because of their far superior aesthetics and the fact in the full dentition the front teeth usually bear less force than the back teeth.

Crowns can be temporary or permanent. Temporary crowns are made of stainless steel, acrylic, or resin. These types of crowns are made chair side in the dental office whereas permanent crowns are made in a dental lab. Temporary crowns are used until the permanent crown is returned to our office by the dental lab.



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