Do you have worn teeth? Are worn or weakened teeth making it uncomfortable to bite and chew? Try dental crowns. Crowns are dental restorations that cover an entire tooth above the gum line. Dental crowns can help enhance the visual appearance of discolored, chipped, or otherwise traumatized teeth. These restorations can also rebuild worn, decayed, and damaged teeth.
A crown, cemented onto your natural tooth, effectively serves as your tooth’s new surface because it completely covers your natural tooth. Dr. Sheryl Jenicke works with local state-of-the-art laboratories and uses CAD/CAM technology to provide strong and functional teeth with dental crown treatment in Cadillac, MI.
Dental Crown Treatment
Before dental crown treatment, we must prepare teeth to ensure the crowns fit properly. We may recommend filling or etching the enamel to create the correct shape. Dr. Jenicke uses intraoral scanners to take digital images of patients’ teeth and design crowns that fit the contours of their smiles. She also matches the crown’s color to the desired shade.
Dr. Jenicke uses CAD/CAM software to ensure crowns match each patient. CAD/CAM stands for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. After Dr. Jenicke takes digital images of the smile, she sends these images to a dental lab. CAD/CAM software creates a three-dimensional image that allows technicians to see the teeth from all angles.
Lab technicians then design and mill the custom crowns from the 3-D model of the teeth. When the crowns are complete, Dr. Jenicke cements the crowns to the teeth and polishes them for a natural look.
Dental Crown Post-Op Care
After you receive your dental crown, we will provide you with pain medication to help you through the healing process. Any soreness should fade within 72 hours. We recommend avoiding hard or chewy foods because they can exacerbate pain or soreness. With the right care, dental crowns can last for many years.
Properly flossing and brushing twice daily for two minutes keeps the crowns bright and prevents bacterial buildup that can affect the gums and surrounding teeth. Please let us know if you ever break your crown or if your crown feels loose. Bacteria can collect beneath the crown, leading to decay and gum disease, and broken crowns can be uncomfortable to live with.
Inlays and Onlays
If you have weakened teeth but do not need to cover your whole tooth, we may recommend inlays or onlays. These treatments add support to decayed, worn, and damaged teeth. Inlays cover the chewing surface of a tooth between the tooth cusps or sides, while onlays fully cover the tooth’s chewing surface and tooth cusps.
We recommend porcelain inlays and onlays because they are stronger than composite materials and require less preparation than dental crowns. However, like dental crowns, we customize inlays and onlays to each patient and bond them to the teeth.
Dental Crown Uses
Dental crowns are one of the best tools a dentist wields. They can treat a variety of different cosmetic and restorative dental problems.
Correcting Cosmetic Flaws
Everyone will experience discolored teeth at some point in their lives. The bright white enamel layer wears down over time, exposing more of the off-white dentin layer beneath. Usually, we treat this with professional teeth whitening. However, not all discoloration responds to traditional methods. We can color-match a dental crown to whatever shade of white you desire. Since it covers the entire natural tooth, no discoloration will be visible.
When you have a deformed or misshapen tooth, you usually focus on how it looks. However, it impacts the oral function, too. Each tooth is necessary to break down food as we chew and interact with the tongue to form sounds and words. A custom dental crown is made to match the size and shape of the rest of your teeth. It gives you back the full function of the tooth.
Strengthening Natural Teeth
One of the most common ways we use dental crowns is to stabilize a tooth after a root canal. When we perform a root canal procedure, we remove infected dental pulp from the tooth’s center and refill it with a biocompatible material. However, this isn’t always enough to restore the tooth to full function. A dental crown fortifies the tooth, restores it to full function, and seals it from further infection.
When you get a dental bridge, anchor teeth on each side of the span support the bridge. This puts a lot of stress and strain on your teeth. Anchor teeth wear down faster than normal teeth and are more susceptible to things like tooth decay. We recommend dental crowns to assist the natural teeth. When we place crowns on anchor teeth, they take on the pressure and stress of supporting the bridge instead of the natural tooth structure.
Treating Broken and Decayed Teeth
We preserve natural tooth structure whenever possible. Losing the tooth root can negatively impact your oral health. Dental crowns are often the last resort for severely damaged or decayed teeth. They can hold together pieces of your tooth that have fractured or replace decayed areas of the tooth. This saves the tooth structure and allows you to use your tooth again.
A small chip of a tooth isn’t a big deal. However, a larger break is an issue. A large chunk broken off can expose dental nerves, causing pain when they come into contact with food or other things. It also exposes the soft inner layers of the tooth to bacteria. Sharp edges of the broken tooth can cut into your tongue, lips, and inner cheeks. A dental crown protects the dental nerves and pulp while eliminating sharp edges.
Improve Your Smile Today
Are you interested in dental crown treatment? Contact our dental office for crown treatment today at 231-389-6388. You can also schedule a dental crown consultation with Dr. Jenicke on our website.
Don’t hesitate to ask us any questions you may have about restorative care or your current dental concerns. We are always here to help.