Dental Crowns

What are dental crowns?

Dental crowns are tooth-shaped caps designed to cover the visible portion of a decayed, broken, or misshapen tooth. Dental crowns restore your tooth’s shape, size, and strength.

What are the different types of dental crowns?

There are several types of materials that make up dental crowns. Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva determine which is right for you based on the visibility of the tooth that needs the cap.

Metals

Made of gold, palladium, nickel, or chromium, metal dental crowns are the most durable and easiest to apply. Metal dental crowns withstand biting and chewing forces and rarely chip or break. The metallic color and appearance make it so that Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva most commonly use metal dental crowns for out-of-sight molars. 

Porcelain-fused-to-metal 

A more common choice for dental crowns is porcelain-fused-to-metal. Fusing porcelain over the metal helps to match the adjacent teeth better and offers a more natural tooth color. The metal may show through as a dark line under the crown’s porcelain cap, and porcelain tends to crack, break, and shows more wear than all-metal dental crowns. 

All-resin

Though less expensive than metal and porcelain-fused-to-metal, all-resin dental crowns wear down faster and are more likely to break. 

All-ceramic 

For those looking for the best natural color match, or those with an allergy to metal, the top choice is all-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns. Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva use all-ceramic dental crowns primarily for front teeth. 

What is the procedure for receiving dental crowns?

When you go to Ramona Family Dentistry for a dental crown, the first step is to remove the decay from your mouth and shape your tooth to fit inside your dental crown.

Next, Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva use an in-office milling machine known as the CEREC (Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) to create your crown.

Instead of having to wait weeks for a dental crown to be made at a dental lab, CEREC enables Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva to place your dental crown in one visit.

If your teeth are weak or you want them to look better, call or make an appointment online today with Drs. Christensen and Sachdeva at Ramona Family Dentistry in Ramona, California, for a dental crown consultation.