Even though your tooth enamel is very strong, it can still become damaged and you may have to decide between a dental crown and a tooth extraction. A dental crown is a prosthetic cover that can both save an existing tooth and also repair it to restore its functionality.
Crowns are custom-made by dentists to resemble your surrounding natural teeth and restore the damaged tooth from the chewing surface down to the gum line.
Your Bella Smiles dentist can create and place crowns for their patients for both medical and cosmetic purposes. While you have probably heard of dental crowns before, you may not be fully aware of how they can help your teeth look and function better.
At our Long Island, NY dental practice, your Bella Smiles dentist wants you to understand the treatment options available to them and their advantages. To learn about how dental crowns can restore your smile and your oral health, read on.
Crowns help relieve discomfort.
Dentists often use dental crowns to complete a restorative treatment, repairing damage to a tooth’s enamel and sometimes even internal structure. If your teeth have extensive decay, an infected root, or an injury to your tooth enamel such as a fracture, chip, or break, you may feel pain when you eat or drink. If the damage is severe enough, the discomfort may be almost constant.
Once your dentist treats your tooth’s underlying issue with an appropriate remedy (filling, root canal, etc.), the remaining portion of the tooth may still be vulnerable to further damage or continuing discomfort. A dental crown will protect your tooth against additional damage while also reducing sensitivity.
Crowns are a simple procedure.
With everything they do, you might think that getting a dental crown would be a complicated procedure, but in reality, this treatment is minimally invasive and relatively simple. Once your enamel is cleaned and the damaged parts removed, your Bella Smiles dentist will shape your tooth so that it can securely hold a crown. Then, he or she will take a mold of your tooth from which your crown will be cast. This process usually takes about two weeks but your dentist will place a temporary crown for you to use in the meantime to minimize inconvenience and discomfort. When it’s ready, your Bella Smiles dentist will place it over your prepared tooth and it will be held in place with a strong bonding cement.
Crowns are custom-made for you.
Your Bella Smiles dentist and our dental lab team will design your dental crown so that it matches the shape, size, and color of your existing tooth. Once the slight soreness around the site of the placement subsides, you will most likely forget you even have a crown and most people probably won’t notice anything amiss unless you tell them.
Crowns can restore the appearance of teeth.
An unintended side effect of a dental crown is that they also restore your smile’s appearance as they restore its health. Although dental crowns are meant to repair teeth and relieve dental pain and sensitivity, they can also be used to change the shape and color of teeth, as well as covering chips, cracks, or fractures. Sometimes dentists suggest crowns as a cosmetic treatment, like porcelain veneers.
An individual consultation with your Bella Smiles dentist or your area dentist will help you decide what treatment is best for you. Consult with your Bella Smiles dentist’s dedicated staff about what your insurance will and will not cover.
Crowns last many years.
Your Bella Smiles dentist uses strong materials to create our patients’ dental crowns. With conscientious care such as daily brushing and flossing, as well as routine examinations and cleanings at Bella Smiles or your area dentist, these prosthetic teeth can a decade or more.
Enjoy the Advantages of Dental Crowns
Dental crowns can help you restore and enhance your smile and Bella Smiles would like to help you receive these benefits if you need them, so don’t hesitate to contact our Riverhead, Roslyn and Nesconset offices on Long Island today.