The Many Roles of a Dental Crown

Crowns are the most popular restorative dental treatment in the world, with over 2.3 million implant-supported crowns made annually and many more created to cover broken, discolored, or otherwise damaged teeth. It’s highly likely you’ll need at least one dental crown in your lifetime for some reason or other. 

Ginger Rome, DDS, Laura Santo Salvo, DDS, and Sarah Olim, DDS, provide high-quality crowns using digital planning technology and durable, color-matched materials at The Dentists at North Cypress in Houston, Texas. You can offer input on your preferences regarding your crown’s material during your treatment planning consultation just before our team takes images and impressions to create a crown that fits your smile beautifully. 

Crowns play many roles in dentistry, which is why you often hear about them at the dentist’s office. In this guide, we’ll cover the most common reasons why dental crowns are necessary. 

Dental crowns offer protection for compromised teeth

When a filling alone can’t live up to the task of restoring a damaged tooth, a crown can restore and protect it. Your custom dental crown can hold together the pieces of a broken tooth or offer extra support so a weak tooth doesn’t break when you bite and chew. 

Whether your tooth damage comes from an injury or decay, a crown can restore the tooth to its original intact shape. You can get a custom porcelain, ceramic, metal, or gold crown to cover teeth that:

• Are chipped 
• Are cracked
• Are worn down because of bruxism
• Have decay
• Have undergone root canal therapy
• Have large fillings

With a durable crown from The Dentists at North Cypress, you can continue to bite and chew with confidence that a vulnerable tooth won’t crack or crumble. 

How a dental crown can replace an entire missing tooth

Two ways a crown can play a role in tooth replacement: by being part of a bridge or by attaching to a dental implant.

Implant-supported crowns are designed to attach to the abutment portion of a dental implant, which is a surgically implanted device similar to a titanium screw that’s fused into your jawbone. The implant acts just like the root of the original tooth, but rather than holding the tooth in place, it holds an artificial crown. With implant support, the crown can now function exactly like all of your other natural teeth, withstanding the pressure of your bite so you can speak and chew without difficulty. 

Crowns are also part of devices called dental bridges. A dental bridge includes either one or two crowns plus another one or more artificial teeth called pontics. The crowns work to hold the pontics in place, where they fill the gap left by one or more missing teeth. 

Sometimes crowns are for aesthetics only

Do you have a misshapen tooth? Maybe you have one that has such dark discoloration that normal hygiene and even professional whitening can’t lift the stains. In either case, your custom crown can restore a tooth to its original beauty so it doesn’t stand out among your other better-looking teeth. 

Color-matchable materials like porcelain and ceramic allow you to get as close as possible to the tone of your other teeth. Digital impressions and images help your dentist shape and size the crown so it looks (and feels) natural to your own smile. 

Are you ready to go over your options for tooth restoration?

Call our Houston, Texas, office to schedule an appointment or request a visit online at The Dentists at North Cypress today.