Dental crowns (also known as “dental caps” or “tooth caps”) can be made from metal (gold or other metal alloys), ceramic materials (such as porcelain), or a combination of both. The information on this page explains some of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these various types of dental crowns, but in general you should rely on your dentist’s judgment and advice as to which of these types of crowns would be most appropriate for your situation.
All metal dental crowns / Gold Crowns
Some dental crowns are made entirely of metal. The classic metal dental crown is one made of gold, or more precisely a gold alloy. Over the decades a variety of different metal alloys have been used in making dental crowns. Some of these metals are silver in color rather than yellow like gold.
Having a gold dental crown made can be an excellent choice. Here are some reasons why:
*Because of its physical properties, dentists find gold to be a very workable metal. This characteristic helps a dentist to be able to achieve a very precise fit with the crown.
*Since they are metal through and through, gold crowns withstand biting and chewing forces well. They will not chip.
*Although they are very strong, the wear rate of a gold crown is about the same as tooth enamel. This means that a gold dental crown won’t create excessive wear on the teeth it opposes (the teeth it bites against).
Full-porcelain dental crowns.
Although they can be very life like in appearance, the overall strength of all-porcelain dental crowns is less than other types of crowns. While they can be a good choice for front teeth, due to the hefty chewing and biting forces that humans can generate, all-porcelain dental crowns may not be the best choice for back teeth.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns are somewhat of a hybrid between metal crowns andporcelain crowns. When they are made the dental technician first makes a shell of metal that fits over the tooth. A veneering of porcelain is then fused over this metal (in a high heat oven), giving the crown a white tooth-like appearance. Depending on the requirements of your situation, these crowns are sometimes made where the porcelain veneer only covers those aspects of the crown that is readily visible (meaning the other portions of the crown have a metal surface). In other cases these crowns are pretty much fully surfaced with porcelain.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns can be a good choice for either front or back teeth. These crowns are strong enough to withstand heavy biting pressures and at the same time can have an excellent cosmetic appearance. There are some disadvantages associated with porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns however (which no doubt your dentist will try to minimize as much as is possible). They are:
The metal that lies underneath a crown’s porcelain layer can sometimes be visualized as a dark line found right at the crown’s edge. A dentist will usually try to position this dark edge just underneath the tooth’s gum line but if a person’s gums recede this dark line can show, thus spoiling the crown’s appearance.
Lab procedure … Porcelain Preparation ..
End of part 2
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