If you have never had a dental crown, you may wonder about the process and how dental crowns work. At our Stuart, FL dental office, we offer dental crowns to our patients’ whose teeth have sustained damage due to trauma or decay. If you have a clenching or grinding habit, you may cause wear or cracks in your teeth and require a dental crown to stabilize and protect your tooth.
To prepare your tooth for a dental crown, we will first need to determine that it is the appropriate treatment for you. We will take a dental x-ray for Dr. Wigley to diagnose your condition and recommend the appropriate restoration.
Some of the common conditions requiring a crown include:
- Cracked tooth
- Decay
- Replacing a large filling
- Restoring a worn tooth
Once a dental crown is diagnosed, he will remove the damaged tooth structure and take an impression to create your crown. We will match your crown to your natural teeth so that your smile appears seamless.
We will send your bite impression along with your tooth impression to the dental lab with specific instructions on coloration to make sure that we receive a dental crown that fits well and looks great.
Our dental lab will create your porcelain crown, which typically takes a couple of weeks. Don’t worry, though! We will provide you with a composite temporary crown to keep your tooth comfortable and protected while the lab creates your dental crown. Once we receive it in our office, we will schedule a time to permanently attach it to your tooth. It will completely cover your natural tooth structure and absorb some of the force of chewing. A dental crown can prolong the life of your tooth by decades!
If you are in the Stuart, FL and think you need a dental crown, contact Christopher Wigley, DMD to schedule your next dental appointment.