Porcelain Crowns

Crowns – what are they?

A Crown is a new covering for your whole tooth which will look just as good or even better than the real thing. If you need a crown we will discuss the options for your case as different materials have advantages and disadvantages, plus different pricing. We will explain the scenarios and help you make an informed decision.

“As a crown is a significant investment we take the art of the perfect crown very seriously. We aim to provide value for your investment.”

DR PHILIP JACOBS

The Benefits of Crowns

Aesthetic Reasons

Especially in the front of your mouth a crown will give a good cosmetic result if a tooth needs restoring. Badly worn or discoloured teeth can be covered by a new crown in the colour and shape of the tooth in it’s perfect state. Sometimes people want a smile makeover and we use multiple crowns to achieve straight, well shaped teeth. You may have older crowns with metal inside them that make your tooth appear grey. These can be replaced with a modern, ceramic crown which will not go grey, and has a beautiful tooth colour.

Normal Fillings Won’t Work

If you have a tooth with a very large filling there is not much tooth left to get a filling to bond to. If your tooth cannot hold a filling then one of the only ways to protect the remaining tooth structure, and avoid losing the tooth altogether is to cover the tooth with a crown.

Strengthening a Cracked Tooth

If a crack is diagnosed in your tooth a crown might be recommended to fully protect the tooth. Leaving cracks in your teeth untreated will lead to symptoms of pain and sensitivity and decay can also start forming with the ultimate result being losing the tooth.

Why should I choose Hope Island Dental Care to make my Crown?

Crowns are far more expensive than having teeth removed, but the long term benefit has to be weighed up. Having teeth removed can start a cycle where other teeth are working harder, then they have to be restored or removed too.

As a crown is a significant investment we take the art of the perfect crown very seriously. We aim to provide value for your investment.

A poorly fitting crown looks unpleasant and unnatural around the gum it often has a dark recession along the edge where it covers the tooth. As well as being unsightly this area is also a breeding ground for gum disease, or for tooth decay to start under the crown. This can lead to the crowned tooth having to be removed altogether when the intention was to save the tooth.

Dr Phil Jacobs has many years experience in taking accurate impressions that form the cornerstone of making properly fitting crowns. At Hope Island Dental Care during May 2017 we have also invested in the latest dental laser on the market. This technology enables Dr Jacobs to shape a gum quickly and painlessly achieving an excellent starting point for integrating a crown and gum line beautifully.

An aesthetically bad crown has the wrong shape or colour match. It is actually harder to integrate one crown into the smile than numerous placed together, Dr Jacobs has the skills to do either and will not suggest multiple crowns to make his job easier.

The two types of Crown materials that are used at Hope Island Dental Care suit different purposes. Depending upon where in your smile we are placing crowns we can select between Zirconia Crowns and Porcelain Crowns.

Zirconia Crowns

This type of crown has no metal, it is an opaque solid material which will not have any unattractive shadows it can be beautifully white instead. Unfortunately the limitation of Zirconia is that it lacks the reflective quality and variations of real tooth enamel so it looks a little duller. It is however very strong, and Zirconia crowns are cost effective as their production is less complicated and time consuming than the art of creating porcelain crowns.

At Hope Island Dental Care we normally advise patients to have a Zirconia crown in the back areas of the mouth where strength is required and the crown is not on full display. Having said that we are a strongly biased aesthetic practice so the Zirconia crown must still be the best it can be in appearance, but if crowns are in the back area of the mouth there is really very little of the teeth on view. The strength benefit of Zirconia makes it the more practical option in addition to being less costly.