A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap that restores a decayed, broken, weak or worn-down tooth. Dentists also use crowns to cover dental implants and root canal-treated teeth. Made from a variety of materials, including metal, resin and porcelain. When you need a dental crown, you often discover you have more options than you expected. Often the differences between the options can be quite confusing, or hard to understand. Today there are a number of options available for people looking for a crown. The cost of the crown varies according to the materials used. In a broad category crowns are differentiated as metal crowns, porcelain fused to metal (pfm) crowns and metal free crowns.
Warranty on dental crowns is a marketing gimmick. Dental crowns if fabricated correctly usually do not break or fracture easily. The underlying tooth can break or fracture. Usually the life of a good dental crown/bridge is 10-15 years depending on the patients oral hygiene, maintenance and sound tooth structure.
METAL CROWNS
Alloys used in metal crowns can be nickel- chromium or cobalt chromium or titanium.
Advantages of these crowns are less amount of grinding the natural tooth to accommodate this crown and least costly of all types of crowns.
Disadvantages of these crowns is the visibility of metal which is not pleasing. The gums around the metal crown also recede over a long term.
PORCELAIN FUSED TO METAL (PFM)
Advantages
Aesthetic Appeal: PFM crowns provide you with a beautiful natural smile. Except for the dark line which can often be seen between the crown and the tooth.
Durability: Cosmetic imperfection of PFM crowns is compensated by their strength and durability, which is achieved due to a metal component. Indeed, PFM crowns have a high level of success and with proper oral hygiene.
Reasonable Price:Usually, PFM crowns are cheaper than all-porcelain ones but costlier than all metal crowns.
Disadvantages
Dark Line on the Tooth and gums: Along with the strength and durability, the presence of a metal component means a dark line usually appears in the area where the crown meets the tooth. In the case of front teeth restoration, this can be a real problem. Moreover, if you have a gum recession, the dark line of metal could become even more visible.
More Tooth Trimming Is Needed.In order to place new crown that is PFM, the dentist will have to remove a significant amount of tooth – more than with metal crowns.
METAL FREE CROWNS
Metal free crowns can either be a zirconia or lithium disilicate(emax) crown. Technically zirconia is also a metal, but its the color of natural tooth so is placed in this category.
Zirconia Crowns
Advantages
Durabiltiy: Zirconia crowns are extraordinarily strong and can withstand most chewing and biting activities. They are very resistant to high temperatures and, as a rule, don’t cause tooth hypersensitivity. Due to the fact that they are made of crystal, zirconium crowns are much stronger than porcelain-fused-to-metal ones.
Appearance: It is hard to differentiate a zirconia crown amongst natural teeth. In addition, zirconia crowns can be modified to suit the shape and size of teeth it will be placed alongside with.
Non-allergic:Due to their biocompatible structure, zirconia crowns rarely provoke allergic reactions or body rejection.
Disadvantages:
Cost: Good things come with a price and zirconia crowns are quite expensive.
LITHIUM DISILICATE CROWNS (Emax)
Usually these crowns are very patient specific. Your dentist will be the right person to decide for you if these crowns are actually possible/ suitable for you.
In addition to these three common crown types, there are also all-resin crowns, stainless steel crowns, and gold crowns. Because there are so many options for temporary crowns and permanent crowns, it can be difficult to suggest which type of crown is best for a damaged tooth without a visit to the dentist and considerations about your specific situation.The decision depends on your budget, and the type of dental problem you have. Consult your dentist to choose the best treatment suitable for you.