You’re curious about dental crowns to correct chipped, stained, or damaged teeth, but you’re not sure what happens when you get one. Dr. Nancy Schumann, in Williamsburg, VA, at Professional Dentistry Center can help you decide if dental crowns are the best option for improving your smile.
What is a Crown?
There are many ways to beautify your smile and fix damaged teeth. Veneers, implants, and crowns are a few of the choices dentists have at their disposal to improve your smile. Sometimes a crown is a better option than veneers or implants, but you won't know for certain without a full dentist's check-up to address your personal dental issues.
A dental crown is a cap that is placed over a tooth that has had a cavity, is likely to get more cavities, is discolored, chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Crowns can also be placed over a dental implant to beautify your smile. Made of various materials, porcelain crowns or porcelain fused to metal are the most common type. There are also crowns made of resin, gold, silver, ceramics, and other materials.
How Do I Get a Crown?
There are several steps to prepare for crowns:
- Your dentist will take images (X-rays) of the tooth or teeth that need crowns.
- The teeth will be prepared for the crown to fit (usually filed down on the surface slightly to place a “cap” or crown over the tooth with an adhesive.)
- An impression or mold of your tooth and surrounding teeth is made, which is used to construct the crown. This impression is sent to a lab where they construct the final crown.
- You will get a temporary crown while your permanent crown is crafted to be as pleasing as possible and to match the shape, color, and smoothness desired.
- You’ll wait for the lab to finish constructing your crown and then schedule another dental appointment to have a final fitting where it will be placed over your tooth after the temporary crown is removed.
Can I Schedule an Appointment for a Crown Right Away?
If you think dental crowns might help remedy a tooth problem, you don’t need to wait for your regularly scheduled dental cleaning to find out.
To schedule a dental appointment for a possible crown, contact Dr. Nancy Schumann, in Williamsburg, VA, at Professional Dentistry Center at (757) 564-0900. Your best smile is moments away.