Getting A Dental Crown

You may require a dental crown for several reasons. You could have badly stained them, cracked them, might have had a root canal or your tooth could have a large filling. You might require a crown for other cosmetic reasons as well.

Dental crowns require the following procedures: consulting the dentist for a check-up, tooth preparation, taking an x-ray or image of the mouth, putting a temporary crown while the permanent crown is being made, and placing and securing the permanent crown.

This blog covers all of the fundamental steps involved in obtaining a dental crown. To begin, you may be curious as to how long it will take to get a permanent dental crown placed on your tooth.

A dental crown procedure usually requires two separate dental office visits to prepare your tooth and to fix the permanent dental crown in the proper location.

Initial Appointment

You can come to the conclusion that you require a dental crown procedure on your own. You must first consult with your dentist, who will carefully investigate your oral health condition and determine whether you require a dental crown. The initial consultation normally involves a review of your dental health record and current conditions.

Numbing The Tooth

The first stage in the procedure is to numb the affected tooth. This involves numbing the affected tooth and its surrounding tissues with a general/local anesthetic. This is due to the fact that the dental tool may come quite close to the gum tissues

Taking the Preliminary Impressions and Shade

Following numbing stage, exact models of your maxillary and mandibular arches are needed to make your dental crown in the lab. This is required to accomplish a perfect dental crown for you. For porcelain fixed to a metal crown, or a full ceramic crown, your dentist would need to take the exact color of your affected tooth and the adjacent teeth before beginning the preparatory dental work.

Alginate Impressions

This impression is typically used to create the temporary crown that you will wear while your permanent crown is being created in the dental lab. After taking the impression, your dentist will use a shade guide to determine the exact color of the affected tooth. However, if you choose a gold dental crown, you will not need to monitor the tooth’s color.

Tooth Preparation

This is one of the most important aspects of the dental crown procedure. The dental crown is similar to a natural tooth, but it has an empty space inside it, similar to a dental cap, and must be fitted over the affected tooth. Thus, the affected tooth must be properly adjusted and shaped for the permanent dental crown to fit comfortably. A portion of the affected tooth must be filed down or reduced for the dental crown to fit nicely and firmly on top. This requires tooth preparation.

Your dentist would put a rubber dam over the affected teeth after sedating them to prevent water, saliva, tooth structure, and filling materials from falling into your oral cavity.

An exact amount of the affected tooth and filling material is eliminated for the dental crown during tooth preparation. In addition, any tooth decay discovered is removed, and a composite core could be placed on the affected tooth.

After the decay has been removed and the core has been completed, an adequate portion of the tooth and filling is removed. This is the most important step, and it takes the most amount of time to finish.

Taking the Final Impression

After tooth preparation, another impression is required since even the smallest error in the dental crown mars the entire procedure. Hence the best way to avoid a poorly-fitted crown is to avoid any fault in the impression.

Your dentist uses the polyvinyl siloxane material for taking the impression. The material is placed in the impression tray, and the patient is instructed to bite down. Multiple impressions may be taken by the dentist in order to obtain a completely accurate impression.

Placing the Temporary Dental Crown

The dentist would place a temporary dental crown over the prepared tooth while the permanent crown is being manufactured in the dental lab. Placing a temporary crown is more than just a cosmetic requirement; it also has many advantages. The temporary crown is mainly made of acrylic resin. After it has been set, it is molded to fit the prepared tooth and any harsh or pointy edges are removed. Temporary cement is used to keep your crown in the proper position.  Following the placement of the temporary crown, the dentist would check to verify that the teeth bite together perfectly. Temporary crowns are essential to help to avoid the prepared tooth from shifting, prevent bacterial infections and germs from entering the prepared tooth, and also keeps sensitivity in check. The temporary crown must not come off, but if it does, contact your dentist immediately to have it re-cemented.

Placing the Permanent Crown

The manufacturing of the permanent dental crown typically takes 7 to 10 business days. When you return to your dentist for the final time to have the permanent crown installed, your dentist will begin by sedating the prepared tooth and adjoining gingival tissues with a general anesthetic. Before putting the permanent crown, the dentist carefully cleans and dries the prepared tooth. The dentist will also check to see if the permanent crown is making proper contact with the adjacent teeth. Too much contact would create serious problems when flossing, and lack of contact would create additional dental gaps that might lodge food remnants. This can eventually lead to tooth decay. Too tight contacts necessitate a slight reduction in the adjacent teeth (not your brand new dental crown). No contact requires sending the new crown back to the dental lab to be rebuilt. The process of cementation starts once the permanent crown fits properly. Extra cement is removed from your mouth, and the curing light is used once more to set the cement tightly. Flossing would be required to eliminate any leftover cement from between your teeth. Your dentist would also use a scaler to get rid of any excess cement from under the gum line and around the affected tooth.

Checking the Bite

After waiting for about 10 minutes for the permanent crown to set, your dentist will examine how your teeth bite together. This is essential because a high bite can result in tooth pain or sensitivity. Any high spots that are discovered must be cautiously reduced to complement the opposing tooth.

Following the end of the dental crown procedure, your dentist should provide you with after-care instructions that you must follow. However, if you notice anything unusual with your dental crown a few days after the procedure, contact your dentist right away to have it checked.

The Final Word

If you want to learn more about dental crowns, dental crown costs, and dental crown procedures, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your favorite dentist at Restoration Smiles today! We have the most well-experienced, board-certified, and professional dentists in Tomball, TX.