If you sustain damage to one of your teeth, your dentist will likely recommend restoring its structure using a dental crown. This fixture uses a ceramic cap to cover a vulnerable tooth, shielding it from external threats and enhancing its health.
Though you may look forward to boosting your oral health with this treatment, you may also feel nervous about undergoing dental work. You can feel confident in receiving a crown when you understand some of the many benefits it can offer. Read on to learn four ways that a dental crown can enhance your oral health.
How Can a Dental Crown Improve My Smile?
Replace Weakened Tooth Enamel
A healthy tooth features an outer shell called enamel which protects underlying and vulnerable dentin. Though enamel is durable, it may erode over time due to poor oral hygiene or factors outside a patient’s control, like aging.
Once gone, enamel cannot regrow. This will leave dentin vulnerable to decay and other dangers. You may feel tooth sensitivity as external stimuli react to nerves in the dentin.
Your dentist can replace thinned or weakened enamel with a dental crown. The cap covers exposed dentin, alleviating sensitivity pain and protecting the interior of the tooth. Dental cement seals the crown into place, providing up to fifteen years of protection.
Amend Broken Teeth
Your teeth undergo wear and tear on a daily basis without issue. But an accident involving high amounts of pressure could cause a tooth to crack, chip, or fracture.
Even a small crack will detract from the appearance of your smile. It could also put your tooth at risk of contracting an infection that will require intense dental work to amend.
If you suffer this kind of tooth injury, do not hesitate to let your dentist know as soon as possible. They can provide prompt treatment to fix this damage using a dental crown. It will cover the injury, restoring its appearance, function, and health.
Restore Dental Structure After Tooth Decay
If you have a cavity, your dentist will fix this dental damage by drilling away the decay and filling the resulting hole in the tooth with resin. This gets rid of the cavity for good and reinforces the structure of the tooth.
However, more advanced tooth decay can leave too much damage to the enamel for a dental filling to amend. In these instances, your dentist can fortify the exterior of the tooth with a dental crown after they drill away the damaged portions of the tooth.
Brighten Severely Discolored Teeth
A dental crown is known for its restorative benefits, but it can be used for cosmetic enhancement purposes too. Dentists construct crowns on a personalized basis, meaning they build them to suit the unique size, shape, and color of a patient’s smile for a beautiful and natural-looking finish.
This means that a dentist can factor in a patient’s smile aesthetic goals as well when making a crown. They can use the crown to cover a tooth that has suffered severe discoloration.