Porcelain Crowns for Front Teeth
A crown is a dental restoration that covers your
entire tooth. It used to be that any crown had to have some metal in it
for strength. Today, we can make them out of all porcelain, meaning that
they can look very esthetic and very natural.
Unfortunately, most dental schools emphasize the use of porcelain fused to
metal crowns, and that's the only crown many
dentists know how to do for front teeth. But porcelain fused to metal
crowns for front teeth look opaque, unnatural, and tend to develop a dark
line at the gumline after a few years. Notice the photograph on the right
of an all porcelain crown on a front tooth. Can you tell which tooth has
the crown? Notice that there is no dark line at the gumline, as you will
see with porcelain fused to metal crowns.
DENTAL CROWN CHOICES FOR FRONT TEETH
A dental crown on a front tooth is needed when either a good portion of the
tooth is gone or a good portion of the biting edge is gone - there are large old fillings,
a tooth fracture, or a large area of tooth decay. A filling is used to fill a
small portion of the tooth - a crown when the tooth has extensive damage. And
there are three basic categories of crowns for front teeth:
bonded all porcelain, extra strength all
porcelain, or porcelain fused to metal.
 | BONDED ALL PORCELAIN - This is the type of crown
that a true cosmetic dentist will almost always place on a front tooth. It is
made entirely of porcelain or other ceramic material. Now the type of
porcelain used for crowns for teeth by itself is not very strong. The
way a cosmetic dentist will handle this is he or she will bond the crown
to the tooth, thus giving it plenty of strength to function. However, since
dental schools do not normally train dentists in the
bonding techniques required to place these crowns, you should be careful to only have
them done by expert cosmetic dentists. For information on locating an expert cosmetic dentist in your area, please see our
referral page.
This type of crown has the nicest appearance. It mimics the appearance of
nature to the point where it is difficult to tell that it is not a natural tooth. An all
porcelain crown costs more than a porcelain fused to metal crown. And while
an all porcelain crown is strong enough for front teeth, it may not be
strong enough for some back teeth in some patients with an extra strong
bite. |
| EXTRA STRENGTH ALL PORCELAIN - There are some new
ceramic materials that have extra strength - so much so that they don't
have to be bonded. Some general dentists like to place these crowns on
front teeth because they don't require specialized training to place,
and they don't have the esthetic disadvantages of metal.
However, they aren't as esthetic as the bonded all porcelain crowns.
Some brand names of crowns that are this type are Procera crowns, InCeram crowns,
Cercon crowns, Lava crowns, and
Cerec crowns. While they don't have an opaque metal
core, most of them have an opaque white core, so they aren't as esthetic for
front teeth. They don't tend to develop the dark
black line at the
gumline that porcelain fused to metal crowns do, but they can still
reveal a sharp color difference where the crown meets the tooth. They also tend to be a
little more abrasive on the opposing teeth that chew against them.
Zirconia crowns can be made
translucent, and if they are bonded onto the teeth they won't show the
black line. |
| PORCELAIN FUSED TO METAL - Porcelain fused to metal crowns,
for general dentists who aren't passionate about appearance, look "good
enough." But even many lay people can tell when friends have this type
of crown on front teeth. They tend to have a very fake-looking opacity,
and they will tend to get a black line at the gumline after a few years.
This line may not show when the crown is
first placed but shows later, as the gum recedes. But porcelain fused to metal is
substantially stronger
than the all porcelain crown. The biggest advantage for general dentists is
that this crown is much easier to place. A competent general
dentist with only the training received in dental school can correctly
place one of these crowns. |
Read about the loss of enamel on the insides of the front teeth from
bulimia. Dinah from Miami asks if
it's realistic to expect a perfect
color match for a porcelain
crown on a front tooth. Read Dr. Hall's blog posts about
porcelain crowns for front
teeth, where he answers questions from visitors. |
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The listings below are paid advertisements and should not be confused with the recommended dentists we list in our "find a cosmetic dentist" section:
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