A tooth crown is a custom-made restoration that covers and supports a damaged natural tooth. They are primarily used to reshape teeth, close spaces or recolour/whiten them, but they can also support a dental bridge and/or hold a dental implant in place. They can be made from a wide range of materials but the type of material selected will be dependent on your unique requirements and budgetary considerations.

Teeth are most commonly repaired with a crown when the damage is too extensive for a filling, or where extreme wear and breakdown has occurred due to factors such as heavy clenching/grinding or poor habits with acidic foods and drinks (like sucking lemons). They may also be recommended following root canal therapy to strengthen the tooth and prevent further deterioration.

Tooth Crown: Benefits and When You Might Need One

Metal crowns are typically fabricated from non-noble alloys of gold, silver and other base metals (these include cobalt, nickel and chromium), which are chosen for their physical properties. They are the most durable and longest-lasting of all the types of crowns, but the metallic colour can be unsightly in some cases.

Bay Breeze Dental are the most aesthetic option and can be fabricated in several different ways. We use’monolithic’ (solid) CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) machines to mill these crowns out of blocks of porcelain in the surgery, so they can be designed, fabricated and cemented during one appointment. Alternatively, we can make crowns using a two-layer system in our laboratory (Procera and Empress) whereby an aluminium oxide core is custom milled and then feldspathic porcelain is stacked on top to give the more translucent/lifelike aesthetic properties.