When you were in college you may have sought out an easy class to fill a requirement. Maybe it was Ceramics 101, and that Christmas you presented every family member with a mostly symmetrical hand-thrown bowl or vase that was one of your class projects.
That was ceramics then; this is ceramics now at EMA Dental — all-ceramic crowns!
What does a crown do?
A crown is placed over a tooth, all the way down to the gumline. The crown attaches permanently to the natural tooth under it. A crown can return strength and function to a tooth that either had extensive decay (and required an extensive amount of tooth material to be removed) and its strength was compromised, was cracked or otherwise damaged, or was severely stained or less than appealing visually.
Why is an all-ceramic crown better?
Traditional crowns have usually been a mix of metal and porcelain. While they provided the same strength improvement, they didn’t always look like a natural tooth. All-ceramic crowns have the advantage of allowing better light transmission through the body of the tooth. This makes the crown appear just like a natural tooth.
Not everyone is right for an all-ceramic crown, however. Our expertise at EMA will decide if the location of the crown and the intraoral forces at that point in your bite will make an all-ceramic crown right for you.
How the crown is placed
Usually placing a crown takes two appointments at EMA. During the first visit we prepare the decayed or damaged tooth. We remove all decay and, if needed, remove some of the healthy tooth to make room for the crown to fit atop it. Next we take impressions and place a temporary crown on the tooth. Your impressions are sent to a dental lab to fabricate your all-ceramic crown. When it is ready, you return and we check the fit and appearance and then permanently cement it to your tooth.
Benefits of all-ceramic crowns
• Fixes damaged or deformed teeth
• Allows normal chewing on teeth that were too weak to allow it
• Replaces absent teeth, where necessary
• Returns your natural smile
Want more information about all-ceramic crowns at EMA Dental? Call either our Longmeadow or Northhampton offices.