Crowns

There are many reasons why a crown may be recommended to preserve the life of your tooth. One of the most common reasons is that the tooth is becoming very heavily filled.

Once the size of the filling in a tooth has become too large it will leave the remaining portion of the tooth weakened. This smaller portion of the tooth is still very often responsible for keeping the larger filling in its place. Finally a point is reached where there is not enough tooth structure left to support a filling without the risk of the tooth splitting further. Large fillings can also act as a wedge and push the tips of the tooth apart during biting, causing the tooth to crumble further.

By covering the remaining tooth structure, a crown can support and hold the tooth together. It will also help eliminating the destructive splitting forces. For more information, see what is involved.

There are numerous types of crowns, some are better in certain situations than others.

WHEN?

Crowns (or Caps) are generally recommended for a tooth once much more than half of the top surface

Of the tooth has broken off or been filled. They can also be used to improve the appearance of teeth or to restore teeth that have totally broken down.