Dental Crowns | Steinbicker Family Dentistry • Mebane, NC

Dentists in Mebane at Steinbicker Family dentistry sometimes perform dental crowns on patients with large fillings. A dental crown is a covering that goes over the top of a tooth. With this type of dental service, our dentists first remove a small amount of tooth structure around the outside of the tooth.

Reasons you might need a dental crown

A dentist might suggest a dental crown or bridge for several reasons. Crown or bridge materials include porcelain, zirconia, gold or a combination of porcelain and gold (i.e., PFM crown). Porcelain and zirconia crowns are more cosmetic than gold or PFM crowns.

Your tooth fractured

Dental crowns save teeth that have fractures. A tooth that has a split can be sensitive. A tooth that has a crack hurts and may need a root canal. However, dentists cannot save all cracked teeth with a root canal. If a tooth is cracked to where it cannot be saved, it might need an extraction. A dentist at our office will evaluate fractures to determine if the tooth is restorable. We often recommend a crown on fractured teeth if we believe the crown can prevent further fracture. A crown in in this situation hopefully saves the tooth from being extracted.

You have a tooth with a root canal

As a rule of thumb, a posterior or back tooth with a root canal will require a crown. We do most of our chewing on our back teeth. As a result, we place significant force on our back teeth. Teeth with root canals become brittle over time because they are no longer are alive or have blood going to them. A crown is needed on back teeth to prevent a tooth from fracturing.

You need to replace a missing tooth

Dental bridges replace missing teeth. A bridge is essentially three or more crowns connected. Teeth receiving a bridge are prepared just like teeth that need a dental crown. With a bridge, the prosthesis will go from one tooth to another. Patients that want to replace a missing tooth without a bridge can elect to do a dental implant.

You have large dental fillings

A tooth with a large filling due to tooth decay also can need a dental crown.  Teeth with large silver or white fillings have a lot of tooth structure loss. A tooth with substantial structure loss needs a dental crown so that a composite won’t break.

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