Dental Crowns

A crown or cap is nothing more than a cover for a tooth. A tooth may need a crown for a variety of reasons.

Why You May Need a Dental Crown

If a tooth breaks while you’re eating something hard, it can sometimes be fixed with a simple filling. The filling restores the tooth to its original shape, but it doesn’t make the tooth stronger. The union of the tooth to the filling is always the weak point.

Therefore, if a tooth has had multiple or very large fillings, it is more prone to breaking, and a crown may be needed to protect the tooth and prevent further damage. Sometimes we are forced to crown teeth after they break, but if we see a crack starting or determine that a filling is going to be too large to work, we may recommend crowning it before something happens.

Crowns are also recommended after root canal treatment for back teeth. When accessing the inside of the tooth to complete the root canal, the center of the tooth is hollowed, disinfected to remove any bacteria and then filled with a soft material. A crown provides a protective barrier that keeps the inside from being reinfected by bacteria and also prevents fracturing of the tooth.

How We Place Dental Crowns

Placing a crown usually takes two visits to our Chappell, Nebraska dental office. During the first visit, we prepare your tooth for a crown by removing a bit of your natural tooth so that the crown fits properly. Next, we take a dental impression of the tooth with a gooey material that hardens and captures the shape and size of the tooth after we’ve reduced it. We make you a temporary crown so that the tooth is covered and protected until the final crown is ready in about two to three weeks.

At the next visit, we remove your temporary crown and try in the permanent crown. We check to make sure it looks good, covers the tooth completely, and finally that it fits with your bite. When things look good, we cement the crown in, remove the extra cement, and then send you out to show it off.

We don’t make your crowns in our office. We send them to a dental laboratory in Rapid City, SD that Dr. Dickey knows does the very best job. The lab can make your crown out of whatever material you choose. Most commonly we ask for a porcelain crown that matches the shade of your teeth and blends in. They can also fabricate gold crowns that wear like natural teeth and have been shown to last longer than any other material we use in dentistry.

Please Call for An Appointment

If you have broken a tooth and think that you may need a crown give us a call today.