How to Choose The Ideal Material For Your Dental Crown

Moderate to extreme dental damages like decay, chips, cracks, breaks, or erosion can significantly impact your bite function and appearance and cause mild to severe discomfort. Thanks to dental crowns, you can repair your teeth damage and restore your mouth’s strength, appearance, and function. Let’s discuss choosing the right material for your crown in this article.

What are Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are custom-made tooth-shaped dental caps used to cover damaged or weakened teeth to restore their strength, function, and aesthetics. Dental crowns help to:

• Hold together and protect a broken, chipped, or broken tooth
• Repair a decayed tooth
• Strengthen a weakened or eroded tooth
• Support and strengthen a tooth with a large filling
• Cover dental implants
• Support a dental bridge
• Improve the aesthetics of stained or misshapen teeth
• Protect and strengthen teeth after a root canal

When you visit our dentist in Shalimar, FL, they will examine your tooth’s condition and oral health to determine whether you’re eligible for dental crowns. If not, they will recommend suitable alternatives to restore your bite function and smile.

Types of Dental Crown Materials

Dental crowns contain various materials with characteristics, pros, and cons. Common dental crowns material include:

• Metal Crowns 

Metal crowns contain metal alloys, including nickel, chromium, silver, gold, and palladium. Thanks to the excellent strength of metal, metal crowns can withstand high forces of biting and chewing for many years without needing a replacement. Due to their strength and metallic color, they are best for molar and premolar restorations.

Pros 

• Strong and long-lasting. It can last for more than 15 years with proper care.
• Relatively cheaper than other crowns
• High resistance to damage
• Require minimal tooth reduction

Cons 

• They are aesthetically unappealing due to their metallic color
• Can cause allergies or sensitivity in some patients

• Ceramic or Porcelain Crowns 

These crowns are made entirely from porcelain or another type of ceramic. Thanks to their natural-looking appearance, they offer excellent aesthetics, making them ideal for front-toothpaste restoration. Similarly, ceramic or porcelain crowns are very strong and durable, lasting more than 15 years with proper care. On the downside, these crowns are relatively expensive compared to metal and composite ones.

Pros 

• Strong and durable
• Excellent aesthetics
• Non-metal and thus less risk of allergies

Cons 

• Expensive than other types of crowns
• Less durable than Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns

• Porcelain-fused-to Metal Crowns (PMF) 

As the name suggests, PMF crowns contain metal and porcelain materials. The crown consists of a metallic base covered with a porcelain topping. The crown has an excellent balance of strength (metal) and aesthetics (porcelain).

Pros 

• Strong and durable (metal)
• Good esthetics (porcelain)
• Relatively cheaper than all-porcelain or ceramic crowns

Cons 

• Over time, a dark line can develop at the bottom of the crown
• Requires more tooth reduction
• It can cause allergies or sensitivity in people who have a high reaction to metal

• Zirconia crowns 

These crowns contain a zirconium dioxide material. While non-metallic, zirconia crowns possess strength and durability comparable to metal. Even better, you can match the color of your adjacent teeth for an aesthetically appealing smile.

Pros 

• Incredible strength and durability
• Excellent aesthetics
• It can be completed in a single visit using CAD/CAM technology

Cons 

• It may require more tooth reduction than metal crowns
• It may be more expensive than metal crowns
• It can cause wear to adjacent teeth

• Composite Crowns 

Composite crowns contain composite resin. Thanks to their natural-looking appearance, they can match the color of your teeth for a natural appearance. They are averagely strong, durable, and can last 5 – 10 years with proper care.

Pros 

• Good esthetics
• Average strength and durability
• More affordable than other crowns like porcelain
• Ideal for front tooth restoration

Cons

• Less durable than other types of crowns
• More prone to chips and cracks

Choosing the Right Material for Your Crown 

Generally, the right material for your dental crown will depend on several factors, like:

• Aesthetic needs: If you want a natural-looking crown, you can choose tooth-colored options like ceramic, porcelain, zirconia, or composite crowns.
• Tooth’s location: For front tooth restoration, tooth-colored crowns like porcelain, composite, and zirconia are more suitable for an aesthetically appealing smile. However, strength and durability are critical for back teeth restoration due to regular chewing and grinding of food. Thus, metal and porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns may be more suitable.
• Allergies and sensitivity: If you have a higher reaction to metals, you should consider metal-free options like zirconia, porcelain, ceramic, or composite crowns.
• Cost: Generally, all ceramic, porcelain, and zirconia crowns are more expensive than metal, composite, and porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. Be sure to consult your dentist about which types of crowns are covered by your insurance.
• Dentist’s recommendation: The dentist can recommend a specific type of crown based on your condition, needs, and budget.

Are you interested in dental crowns in Shalimar, FL? 

Are you ready to rejuvenate your smile and dental function with dental crowns near you? Contact Complete Health Dentistry of the Emerald Coast to book your appointment today.