Crowns

Crowns are necessary if your tooth is already this much corroded by caries that a restoration would not hold anymore. According to how much of the tooth has become friable, the dentist will recommend a partial crown or a complete crown.
Crowns are manufactured from the dental technician on tooth stumps previously prepared from the dentist on the basis of a precise impression.
The finished crowns integrate functionally and aesthetically into the existing teeth. If there is not enough tooth substance available for the production of crowns (e.g. in case of broken or root-treated teeth), a construction of the stump with restorative material and/or a metal pin has to be realised.

Crowns can consist of various materials: metal alloy, synthetic or a metal ceramic mix. Crowns that only consist of ceramic have not been considered break-proof enough up to now. But the new material zircon oxide maintains equally long and is as firm to the bite as a gold alloy.

Full ceramic crowns totally consist of porcelain. They do not harm health: the material cannot provoke any allergies compared to metal crowns. Moreover the porcelain crowns are the spitting image of real teeth. This is why dentists recommend this kind of crowns both for teeth that are in the anterior and visible region and for molars. Because the porcelain mix with zirconium oxide can resist the pressure as well as the metal alloy.

When should a crown be produced?

In case of all kinds of loss of dental substance that is no more correctable with conventional methods like restorations, Veneers or Inlays.
Due to aesthetic reasons crowns should be produced when an aesthetic problem is caused by inherent malformations (enamel dysplasia) or gained reasons (caries, restorations, root treatments). That means when the tooth is affected concerning form and colour. Due to prosthetic reasons it can get necessary to produce crowns and bridges e.g. for the application of removable prostheses. Abutments are screwed on implants (implant heads) which are supplied with crowns.

When should no crowns be produced?

We do not produce crowns on teeth of which the periodontal apparatus, apex is surrounded by largely progressed inflammations. If we neither can heal these diseases with root treatments, periodontal and orthodontic treatments nor do we adjudge the maintenance of the tooth worthy to preserve. In this case the production of a crown would be dispensable and would only bear costs for the patient.
Further on we do not apply crowns on heavily mobile teeth or when the root does not stand at least 30% of its length in the bone.