Dental Crowns

There are different reasons why your dentist may recommend a crown for one of your teeth. Sometimes a crown is placed over a natural tooth that has had a root canal, or one that has had a large filling, to help keep the tooth strong for biting and chewing. Crowns can also be used to hold a dental bridge in place or to cover a dental implant. A dentist may also recommend a crown to protect a weak or discoloured real tooth or to cover a broken or damaged one.

The initial appointment which includes taking impressions of your mouth, removing the pieces of a broken or damaged tooth, smoothing it down and adding in a temporary crown before sending off your impressions can usually take around 60 minutes all in all. Your second appointment takes less time because all you have to do is fit your new permanent crown so expect to be there for around 30 minutes. 

Our advanced technology ensures that your permanent crowned tooth will look and feel exactly like a regular tooth – you shouldn’t worry about this, we will have you looking your smiley best in just a few short weeks.

Our dedicated dental team uses a blue light to cure the cementing process which ensures that you’re ready to brush your teeth the minute you leave Parkfield Dental, however just to be on the safe side we recommend waiting a few hours before brushing your teeth as normal. More than anything it’s to ensure that the cement we use to fix your crown is securely attached.

It isn’t painful to have a crown placed on a tooth. The treatment does require a bit of work to prepare the existing tooth and then secure the crown, but with the use of anaesthetic, you shouldn’t feel any pain, barring the small sharp scratch of the initial needle when you’re numbed. After that, the worst you should feel is some mild discomfort as our experienced dentists carefully prepare and fit your new dental crown.

If you have any concerns about visiting a dental practice and are worried about pain during your treatment, feel free to contact us to discuss your options and we will happily reassure you.

If our experienced dentists recommend a crown as a treatment option to you then it is certainly worth it. Crowns are often used where a tooth has had past issues that the more typical forms of treatment – fillings and root canals – have been unsuccessful or where the tooth is damaged beyond the repair of a simple filling. A crown has a much higher success rate for properly fixing the tooth and ensuring you experience no further pain, whilst preserving your smile.

Not only are they successful but with an average lifespan of 5-15 years, they are hard-wearing too and won’t leave you needing to revisit for updated treatments every couple of years.

Most of the time, a dental crown does not require root canal treatment. You would only need a root canal first if the tooth was badly infected and it had spread to the roots of your tooth. In that case, we would recommend a root canal to remove all traces of infection before the crown is fitted, to ensure that it doesn’t resurface and cause further problems down the line.

If your tooth is not infected then we can begin work on your dental crown immediately with no hold up waiting for any antibiotics to clear out the canals of your tooth.

Crowns and dental implants generally are used in different treatments. If your tooth is weakened but still sitting properly in your gums then a crown would normally be used to protect it, rather than have it removed and replaced with an implant.

But if your tooth is badly damaged to the point that the whole structure of the tooth is compromised, or it is too brittle to support a crown, then an implant may be the better option. Implants are long-lasting and even more permanent a solution than a crown, and they offer less risk of infection in future. If you want to know more about our dental implant services, then explore our dental implants page here.

When you’re getting a dental crown, you’ll have an initial temporary crown fitted while you wait for a second appointment where your permanent, moulded crown will be prepared for you. In the meantime, you’ll be wearing a temporary crown. Temporary crowns aren’t as strong as permanent ones, and because they aren’t designed to fit your mouth they won’t be as snug a fit which also makes them weaker.

With that in mind, it’s important you look after your temporary crown while you wait for your permanent one. You should avoid chewing on very hard foods like nuts and solid sweets, and where possible chew on the other side of your mouth.

A crown is not a miracle solution that stops all future decay, although it will offer your tooth a lot more protection. You do therefore still need to make sure that you practise excellent oral hygiene to protect your tooth, especially as if bacteria gets under the crown then you’ll have a very hard time cleaning it properly. You should continue to brush after eating, without avoiding the dental crown, and visit your dentist regularly to have a check-up so that you can be sure your crown is being properly cared for.