Cosmetic Crowns
When a tooth is badly broken or there is more filling than
tooth a crown may be needed to restore the tooth to "original
condition." Years ago crowns were only made of gold. Technology
allowed the use of porcelain baked over gold to be used beginning in the 60s.
Later, porcelain was baked over "space-aged" metals with little or no gold
content. Today we can do all porcelain crowns without ANY metal
that are bonded onto the tooth and offer beauty as well as strength. The
porcelain is completely lifelike, with high translucency
The Procedure - Using 2 Appointments
We use this technique routinely when we want a cosmetic
preview to allow the patient time to evaluate how their smile will look.
At the first visit the teeth are shaped to be ideal foundations for the crowns.
Impressions are then made and ideal temporary crowns are put over the teeth. The
"temporaries" look wonderful - always a major improvement that you will be happy
about!
Because the temporaries look like the final crowns,
the few weeks are a period to decide on any fine tuning that we want
to make. This is an opportunity to drive your smile around the block
and be sure it is exactly what you want. Any changes can be made on the
temporaries. When we are sure you are happy with your new look, we
complete the porcelain crowns. The final crowns are exactly the shade,
length and shape of the temporaries. This assures that you will be totally
proud of your new smile!
Also, the all porcelain bonded crowns can be used to replace
the porcelain baked to metal crowns when the dark line shows at the gum line.
There will be no dark line with all porcelain just as there is no line with all
porcelain veneers.
The Procedure - Using 1 Appointment
All porcelain crowns can now be done while you wait using the
new CEREC technology. Computerized photography and 3D software allow us to
utilize a sophisticated CAD/CAM system that literally creates a permanent
porcelain crown in minutes. We use this technique routinely when we do not
need a cosmetic preview.
This is an example of a one appointment cosmetic crown
replacing an old porcelain to metal crown on an upper first molar. Notice
how natural it appears.
Here we see three teeth that just had crowns prepared and
bonded on in one visit using the CEREC® Computer CAD/CAM system. The
patient requested a lighter shade since she will be bleaching her front teeth.
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