A dental crown is a tooth shaped restoration which is designed to completely cap or encapsulate a tooth. Dental crowns are often required to protect and restore a tooth, giving it strength and improving its appearance.

 

Dental crowns are ideal to;

1     Protect large fillings, by covering and supporting the tooth

2     Restore a weak tooth, to protect it from fracturing

3     Protect a tooth after root canal treatment

4     Alter the appearance of a tooth e.g. if a tooth is severely discoloured

 

The procedure for a dental crown involves:

1. removing the outer surface of the tooth, leaving a strong inner core, the amount of tooth removed will be the same as the thickness of the dental crown.
2. the dentist will take an impression of the tooth. This impression, along with other relevant information, will be given to a dental technician
3. after approximately 2 weeks, a second appointment is required to try in the crown and providing the crown fits accurately.
4. crown will be cemented to the tooth,adjustment will be care out .
5. instruction post-crown

 

TIPES OF  PORCELAIN CROWNS

 

E Max

E Max is the newest cosmetic porcelain.  It is both strong and has true-to-nature shade behavior and excellent light transmission for highly esthetic solutions.  This is new preferred ceramic system for anterior teeth.  EMax is both biocompatible and has the long term wear characteristics like that of enamel. It can be used for minimally prepared veneers or crowns to as thin as 0.2mm.

E Max is ideal for fabricating single-tooth restorations or complete smile makeovers. This ceramic two layer system (pressed coping and custom stacked superficial layer) produces highly aesthetic results and is 2.5 to 3 times stronger than other glass-ceramic systems used today.

E Max Monolithic

When a newer all porcelain crown or veneer chips or fractures, it is likely that the break occurred in the superficial veneering porcelain. It is the veneering porcelain that is the weak link in all of these systems. E Max Monolithic does not have a veneering porcelain.

Unlike the other systems, the E Max HT (high translucency) coping material can be used without a veneering layer due to  improved optical characteristics.

This coping material can be used alone to create beautiful and incredibly strong restorations.  This restorative option is ideal for patients who are nightime bruxers or tooth grinders.

Empress

These beautiful restorations can be produced with excellent fit and the characteristics of natural teeth. Empress has two layers; a base coping made of medium-strength pressed ceramic, and a highly customizable superficial glass layer  that can be hand stacked and fired on top of the supportive pressed base coping.  With only modest strength, this restorative material should never be used in high occlusal risk situations.

Feldspathic

Many cosmetic dentists feel that this is the most beautiful porcelain.  This custom stacked monolithic ceramic (one layer or no supportive base coping) is difficult to work with and requires the technician to have very high skills.  Only high end dentists will use this ceramic system.  These restorations are very technique sensitive to place and are more costly to produce in the laboratory.

Zirconium

This porcelain option is used commonly for anterior bridges and implant abutments.  Zirconium has no capability of bonding and should not be used for veneers.  In addition, the high opacity and unnatural whiteness of the strong zirconium base coping can require more tooth reduction to give room to conceal it with a thicker veneering porcelain layer.

There are many brands of this product and some have higher clinical success rates.