A dental crown is a cover up procedure, it is a simple solution to a big problem says a Chelmsford dentist. The teeth can become damaged on an individual basis, but instead of extracting the tooth and replacing it with a false one, a dental crown will replace the damaged piece of the tooth. Let’s say the top of your tooth is damaged by acid decay and the fillings are no longer doing the job. Your dentist will first take some X-rays and then some digital photos, from these and the dentist will make up a crown that will fit over the top of the tooth. This crown (as in a crown a royal may wear) has an inner chamber built into it, so it will fit just a hat on the head. The dentist will numb the tooth and start work on the preparation, this involves grinding down the top of the tooth where the damage is prevalent. The shape the tooth will now take will be slightly smaller than the area of the inner chamber of the crown. The crown is fitted over the newly reshaped tooth, and cemented onto the mount to complete the procedure, the result is a new tooth that looks and feels like the original. Where a tooth has been extracted a bridge crown can replace the original without the use of a false tooth on a plate, a denture. In this case the gap and the teeth either side are photographed and a crown is made up of 3 teeth, the middle tooth replaces the extracted one and the teeth either side are used to anchor it in place. The teeth either side are ground down to take the anchor teeth, it is the same method as for a damaged tooth, these two teeth then form the `land side` of the bridge to keep it in place. Call 01245 268 494 for a free consultation at Advance Dental Clinic in Chelmsford.

The future of cosmetic dentistry has finally arrived in the shape of new technology from Cerec. Also commonly known as ‘chair-side restoration’, Cerec has revolutionised the way dentists are able to manufacture and fit ceramic restorations such as dental crowns, porcelain veneers and inlays for fillings.

In the past, if a patient needed a dental crown to repair a tooth damaged by decay or accidental damage then a dentist would need to take several dental moulds as well as a series of x-rays. The x-rays would take several hours or days to develop and the dental moulds were not always completely accurate. They would then need to construct a crown or inlay for the patient’s tooth in a laboratory using the x-rays and the moulds. This involved making a layered metal and porcelain restoration that could often take days or weeks and even then still require minor adjustments.

Cerec technology allows the dentist to take several digital x-rays, which can produce three-dimensional images almost instantaneously on a computer screen. This allows the dentist to create a perfectly fitting crown or veneer on the computer. Then comes the really incredible bit, when the dentist sends this information to a computer-guided mill, which can sculpt a new crown or veneer from a single piece of porcelain in a mater of minutes. All of this can be achieved in little more than an hour per tooth for a crown and significantly less for veneers. Combined with the use of resin bonding, it is possible for a patient to have a crown designed, manufactured and installed in a single appointment at a Braintree dentist. Compared to the old methods of crown dentistry, Cerec represents a huge leap forward and expect to see this technology in all dentist surgeries in the near future. Call 01245 268 494 for a free consultation at Advance Dental Clinic in Chelmsford.

When teeth are damaged either by decay or accident, the pain is caused by the exposure of the sensitive dental nerve located at the centre of the tooth. In a normal functioning tooth the nerve is protected by a layer of pulp and dentine and then finally covered with a layer of hard protective enamel. When a tooth suffers form decay this enamel is broken down exposing the softer central parts of the tooth and dental nerve to infection and extremes of hot and cold. This can lead to painful toothache and even tooth loss.

Holes in the enamel therefore need to be filled with a protective substance to replace the enamel. These are commonly known as fillings but in certain circumstances, a filling is not enough to protect the tooth from further damage and more extensive protection is needed. In this case dentists uses what is called a crown to offer a greater degree of protection to the tooth. A crown covers the whole of the tooth exposed above the gum and can be made form metal, porcelain or a combination of the two, although most patients today prefer porcelain because of the aesthetic qualities it offers.

Crowns are also used for teeth that have been cracked and damaged by injury to the face. Cracked or broken teeth can be very painful and if they cannot be repaired with dental bonding then they too will require a crown from a Billericay dentist to prevent further pain.

The crown is manufactured to closely resemble the shape pf the existing tooth before being cemented over the top to act as a protective barrier. It may be necessary to remove some existing enamel to allow the crown to fit comfortably over the top. A dental crown can last longer than fifteen years if properly cared for. Call 01245 268 494 for a free consultation at Advance Dental Clinic in Chelmsford.