Did you know that dental crowns have been around for almost 2000 years? They have been a mainstay of dental restoration since the era of the Etruscans between AD 166-201.
The Etruscans used gold to create the dental crowns, and the material is still in use today. Gold is easily malleable so it can be formed into a tooth shape, but it’s also durable enough to withstand years of use.
Today, dental crowns use several different materials, and the practices for installing them have greatly advanced.
Updating Dental Crowns with Sedation
When receiving dental crowns in Houston, you first visit your Houston dentist so they can prepare the tooth receiving the crown.
After applying a local anesthetic and other sedation as needed, the dentist will use a drill to file down the tooth.
The tooth needs to be filed down so that the dental crown will fit over it like a protective covering. Without doing that, there would be no room for the crown and it wouldn’t help any.
After the filing is complete, the dentist will create a mold of all the teeth, which will show the dental laboratory how well they all fit together, so the technician can create a dental crown that will look natural and fit perfectly.
Once all of this is complete, the patient receives a temporary crown. These dental crowns protect teeth until the permanent crowns are ready.
Creating the permanent dental crown can take up to a couple weeks as the dental laboratory carefully constructs the crown so that it matches the patient’s teeth in size and shape.
Fitting a Permanent Dental Crown
Depending on the crown location and the patient’s preferences, the lab will certain materials for creating the crown. These materials include gold, silver amalgam, porcelain, and resin. Each material has different strengths and weaknesses, and some may last a lot longer than others.
Once the lab constructs the new dental crowns, the patient will return to the dental office in Houston and their dentist will install the crown.
The dentist carefully places the crown over the filed tooth, gently aligning it so that it is comfortable and snug. If the bite is uneven, it can create a lot of problems.
In almost every case, the crown will fit perfectly. The mold of the patient’s teeth creates the perfect basis for the crowns. Once placed, the dentist will bond it with dental cement so that it stays in place.
If it is not secure or is uncomfortable, the lab will create a new crown. This is a very uncommon occurrence, however.
