How to Protect and Perfect Your Teeth With Crowns

  • Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • How to Protect and Perfect Your Teeth With Crowns
how to protect and perfect your teeth with crowns

 

When you consider the impact of the perfect hat or cap on your outfit and appearance, imagine what difference a crown could make? We could ask that question about bejewelled tiaras and crowns, but dental crowns are nearly as transformative. Dental crowns are common, but do you know just how versatile they are?

What is a crown?

A dental crown is a hollow cap fashioned from metal, porcelain, or composites that slips over the top of a prepared tooth and covers that tooth entirely from the biting surface all the way to the gum line. When thinking of how a crown works, think of slipping a thimble over the end of a pencil. In the same way that that thimble entirely encapsulates the eraser at the end of your pencil, a crown covers your tooth.

Crowns do more than cover a tooth, though. Just what dental crowns near you do is what makes them such a versatile dental restoration worth more attention.

Structural support

Strong as your teeth and the enamel that coats them are, they are vulnerable to decay, infection, and injury. Tooth decay that advances to the point of cavities involves the loss of some tooth structure either to the advancing bacteria or at the hands of the dentist in order to halt the decay. Dental procedures required to remove and terminate infection — such as a root canal — require opening up a tooth before sealing it again with gutta percha. Teeth can also be cracked and chipped as the result of collisions in sporting collisions, motor vehicle accidents, or even just chewing ice or other hard foods.

In every one of those cases — and more besides — the tooth may be weakened by loss of structure, the surgical procedure, or the damage. A damaged and weakened tooth does not necessarily have to be extracted. Dental crowns in Winnipeg are shaped and fit to slip over that weakened tooth while lending it all the support that it needs to return to full and natural dental function. For as long as you maintain your good oral health to preserve the health of your gums, jaw, and other teeth, that crown will support your tooth and protect it from any infection.

Cosmetic changes

Everyone wants teeth that function properly. Many people place a similar priority on teeth that look beautiful while they function beautifully. Dental crowns can accomplish essential cosmetic dentistry goals, too. Going back to our original metaphor, in the same way that a hat can solve a bad hair day, a dental crown can cover up an unsightly tooth.

Crowns are made from a variety of materials depending on the function they need to serve and their location in your mouth: metal where the greatest strength is required and commonly at and near your molars; composites and porcelain in areas of your mouth where a metal crown would appear too obvious and look unattractive.

Crowns can cover fillings, cracks, stains, and chips, including stains that no whitening technique can touch because they were caused by infection or the side effects of medication. Porcelain is an ideal material for fashioning crowns with cosmetic interests in mind because the material mimics your natural teeth so closely.

Dental crowns in Winnipeg can even alter the shape of your teeth because your dentist will have to remove a thin layer of enamel so that the crown can slide easily over the tooth without adding a layer of bulk. That preparatory step is the perfect opportunity to perfect the shape of a previously misshapen tooth.

Even the most determined commitment to dental health leaves us with occasional dental needs and cosmetic goals. Crowns from a dental clinic in Winnipeg may satisfy those needs and help you accomplish those goals in one step. What’s the first step to finding out how they can help you? Contact a dentist near you and ask.