5 important things you should know about Dental Crown Procedure
Would you like to know more about the dental crown procedure? You’re in the right place.
Let’s start off by discussing what a dental crown is. A dental crown is an artificial cap; its purpose is to strengthen your tooth when there isn’t enough tooth tissue available to keep it functional.
It is important to note that each crown is designed in a custom manner to meet your specific needs and anatomy. Crowns can be made of different materials, but typically they are made of either porcelain or ceramic.
Crowns can serve a number of different purposes. They can be used as fillings, they can cover misshapen or cover stained teeth, or they can protect weak teeth from breaking.
Crowns are designed to improve both the functionality, as well as the appearance of your teeth.
Do note that a placement crown is typically a two-step, multi-visit appointment process.
What to Expect During First Visit
You can expect your dentist to take a mold of your tooth during your first appointment. Once the mold is captured, it will be sent to a technician who specializes in creating crowns and other types of implants.
The technician will then ensure that new crown matches the color of your teeth, for the purposes of properly blending in with your permanent teeth.
During the first visit, you can expect X-ray imaging. The imaging with be of the tooth that needs repair, as well as of the bone tissue surrounding it.
Afterwards, your dentist will administer local anesthetic adjacent to the tooth. This is done in an effort to ensure that you remain pain free, and thus comfortable, throughout the duration of the procedure.
Your dentist will then file down part of the existing tooth, thus creating a surface where the crown can be placed. There are times when additional filling material will be used to build up structure for the crown to sit on, typically when there is too much tooth area missing – often due to either decay or damage.
Once the tooth is reshaped, a mold tray and specially designed paste will be used to make an impression of the tooth and its surrounding area. The impression made will be calibrated to match the shape of your normal bite.
Towards the end of your initial appointment, your dentist will place a temporary crown on the tooth to give it both functionality and protection; this will remain in place until the final crown is inserted at the next appointment.
You can expect this initial visit to last between 60 to 90 minutes.
Follow-up Visit
At your follow-up visit, you can expect to have your permanent crown placed. At this time, your dentist will remove the temporary crown and prepare to insert a new one that’s the perfect fit and color.
You can also expect to receive a local anesthetic again. Additionally, your dentist will clean and refile the mount in an effort to remove any debris or imperfections.
Your dentist will then place your crown in its final position by using a special adhesive. Once the glue sets, after about 10-15 minutes, your dentist will verify the fit and adhesion. During this time, your dentist will also remove any excess glue from around the tooth.
To conclude the procedure, your dentist will examine the fit of your new crown.
You can expect the second visit and portion of your procedure to last about an hour.
As with any other procedure, it is important to schedule a consultation to determine your next best steps – do not delay, schedule your visit today.
