If you’ve experienced damage to your teeth, odds are a dentist will recommend a few dental procedures to choose from.
One of the most recommended dental solutions is crowns. Dental crowns are the most common type of dental procedure. Daily, thousands of patients have crowns placed to fix tooth and mouth problems.
A crown can last anywhere from 5 to 15 years, but how are dental crowns made?
We’ll cover everything from the materials needed to the use of dental crowns and more. Read on for the answers to a few questions that dental crown manufacturers deal with daily.
Table of Contents
What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a fixed prosthetic restoration that restores a damaged tooth to the correct shape and size. You need the correct shape and size to ensure bite alignment and alleviate any discomfort of an exposed tooth.
Teeth needing to be covered by crowns are cracked, decayed, or damaged in some form. Crowns are only used to replace the outer part of the tooth, hence the name crown.
Types of Materials Used
A dental crown can form out of a few common materials, including the following: gold, titanium, zirconia, metal alloys, and all-ceramic.
The type of material you choose for your dental crown correlates with longevity. One study on porcelain fused to metal crowns found that 85% of the 2,300 crowns lasted over 25 years. Approximately 97% of the crowns were intact after 10 years.
Metal crowns are the most resistant to chewing and teeth grinding. In most cases, metal crowns are for back molars to keep the tooth out of sight because of the crown’s look. Porcelain crowns will represent the look of a tooth in a more accurate fashion than metal, which works well for visible teeth.
Longevity changes with the material, but it’s a direct reflection of maintenance and fit. When your crown is first fitted to your tooth, there needs to be an incredible amount of precision.
Any crown that isn’t a secure fit will see an increased amount of bacteria and develop into a more severe situation.
Now that you know the first step to making dental crowns, how are dental crowns made?
A crown will need to mimic the design and shape of a patient’s bite properties. The original tooth surface shouldn’t result in any discomfort after placing the crown.
How Are Dental Crowns Made?
Before creating the mold, a dentist will need to prep the area where the crown is being placed. This could require the trimming down of the tooth to make sure the fit is right.
An impression will be taken in order to provide further information on the shape by use of an impression plaster mixed with a bit of water.
This impression will provide the dentist with a three-dimensional tooth impression that is molded using model plaster. The plaster is poured into the mold the dentist took from your mouth, and a positive model of the tooth is complete.
Once the mold is out, the cast and investment are made.
The investment is filled with the chosen material and created at a high temperature. The process is a long fabrication that ends once the investment has cooled.
The mold is then broken open and the crown falls out. At this point in the dental crown development, the dentist will place the crown.
In order to get the crown to stay, a form of cement will need to fit inside the surface and over the tooth. There may need to be some additional grinding and shaping once the crown is in the patient’s mouth to ensure a secure and reliable fit.
To complete the placing of the crown, a finishing coat of usually an acrylic polymer seals it off. The polymer will then harden and create a durable and secure tooth. Ultraviolet light is used to cue the polymer, and the crown is complete.
Some dentists will use the assistance of a dental 3D scanner. These machines provide a fully integrated 3D digital dental image. These machines focus on dental restoration, orthodontics, and implant technology.
Malfunctions of Dental Work
If you leave the dentist and your crown comes off in the next few days, don’t worry.
Dental offices won’t charge for another placement if the crown is intact. Dentists also won’t charge if it’s broken and a new one needs to be made.
In some cases, a temporary crown is the only answer, especially in an emergency. These crowns are used as precautionary measures. They protect against food, air, disease, and decay.
You need to relay any form of dental work malfunction to your dentist’s office immediately. Whether it’s a temporary or dental crown, protecting your teeth is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
Take Your Health Seriously
We’ve answered the question, “How are dental crowns made?”
Dental crowns are an important part of keeping your oral health on point. A perfect fit for a crown can make or break the effect of your dentist visit, but what about other health risks?
On our website, we update our blogs daily to make sure you’re getting helpful health information from each article. If you don’t see a category immediately, take some time to browse. You never know what you might stumble upon that improves your lifestyle.
Use this information to make informed decisions about your health and your dental care. It’s time to take your life seriously.