A crown goes on top of a king's head and a cap is worn by a baseball player. Both terms are commonly used but a crown is the professional dental term. A natural crown is made with white enamel covering it and yellower dentin supporting the enamel from underneath. As enamel wears and thins, you see more and more of the darker dentin underneath and this is one reason that crowns become yellower with age. When the natural crown is damaged or weakened a new crown can be constructed by a dentist. There are many reasons that a natural crown must be replaced:

          During the first visit the natural crown is prepared by reducing it's size and an impression is made using a very precise impression material, ours is imported from Germany. The impression is sent to a dental laboratory where an accurate model of the prepared crown is constructed. The dental technician then creates an metal cover for the tooth and casts it in a gold alloy. A ceramist then bakes porcelain onto the metal cover so that the porcelain resembles a natural crown. The patient then returns to the dental office and the crown is adjusted and cemented to the tooth. Most patients choose a natural looking porcelain fused to gold crown, however, crowns can be made completely out of a gold alloy or totally of porcelain.

          A crown is much stronger than a filling. Many patients, especially as they get older, crack parts of their natural crowns off while biting something hard. When a significant part of a natural crown is missing, an artificial crown is the best alternative. Gold crowns are very strong and have the advantage of wearing as natural crowns do. Gold crowns can not break the way porcelain crowns can. However, porcelain crowns are beautiful and can be designed so no one can tell they are not your natural teeth.

          Crowns are usually covered by traditional dental insurance companies at 50% their costs. The extra money spent now spares your tooth additional dental insults in the future when your filling fails. Crowns last longer than dental fillings. Crowns cover most of the exposed portion of a tooth and decay does not effect a crown since it's is made of metal and/or porcelain. However, where the natural tooth meets the crown can decay. This area is called the crown margin. Crowns normally last 5 to 10 years or more but often last much longer. They are part of providing excellent Dentistry to our patients.