Dental Crowns in Reston, Virginia
When a Crown Is Needed
- To keep a weakened tooth from giving way, or to bind a cracked one so it stays in one piece.
- To rebuild a tooth worn down badly or already broken.
- To cover a tooth carrying a large filling, or one built up extensively.
- When less than half of the natural tooth structure remains.
- When a tooth wears down faster than it should.
- To restore a dental implant.
- To support a bridge.
- For appearance.
How a Crown Is Made and Fitted
Think of a crown as a protective cap cemented over your own tooth. Two visits is the usual minimum for making and fitting one.
The first visit is where the tooth is prepared, meaning it gets shaped to receive the crown. That shape has a great deal to do with how long the finished crown survives, so frequently the tooth has to be built back up before it can be shaped at all, and only then trimmed so the crown seats snugly over it. We then take an impression, which goes off to the dental laboratory. Before you leave, an acrylic temporary is normally cemented on to keep the tooth covered until the permanent crown comes back.
In the laboratory that impression becomes a working model, and your permanent crown is built on it. When you come back, the temporary comes off and the finished crown goes on.
Crown Materials
Permanent crowns are made in several materials. All-metal, zirconia, porcelain-fused-to-metal and all-ceramic each behave differently.
Metal Crowns
Gold alloy and other metal crowns have been fitted for generations and remain the toughest thing we can put on a tooth. They resist corrosion, they almost never chip, and that is why they still earn their place at the back of the mouth where the load is heaviest and nobody sees them.
All-Ceramic Crowns
Nothing blends into a smile the way all-ceramic does, since the shade sits so close to the teeth on either side. The material is kind to the gum tissue around it and does not provoke allergic reactions, which is why we reach for it most often at the front of the mouth.
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crowns
These work at the front, at the back, and across longer bridges where an underlying metal frame carries the load. What to weigh against that is the ceramic layer, which can chip off the frame after years of wear, and the thin dark edge that sometimes shows at the gum line as the years go by.
Zirconia Crowns
Zirconium dioxide is a ceramic, and an unusually tough one. Shade and translucency come close enough to enamel that a zirconia crown is hard to pick out, and few materials sit as quietly against gum tissue. Because it is strong enough for the back of the mouth and attractive enough for the front, it works in either place, which is why it has become the material we use most often.
How Long a Crown Lasts
If a Crown Comes Loose or Breaks
Call us rather than waiting for your next scheduled visit. A crown that has come off can very often go straight back on, particularly if you still have it, so keep it and bring it with you. Resist the urge to glue it yourself, because household adhesives ruin both the crown and the tooth beneath it.
A prepared tooth has no enamel left on its outer surface, so it turns sensitive the moment it is uncovered, and within a few days the neighbouring teeth start to close in on the space. Getting seen quickly is usually the difference between refitting your own crown and paying for a new one.
Chipped porcelain is a different matter. Depending on where the damage sits and how much of it there is, the surface can sometimes be smoothed or repaired without taking anything off. We will look and give you a straight answer.
What a Crown Costs
The figure depends on the material and on the state of the tooth underneath. Building a tooth back up before it can be prepared, or treating the root canal first, is more work than shaping a tooth that is basically sound.
Crowns count as restorative work rather than cosmetic, so most dental plans put something toward them, often about half, within your annual maximum and any waiting period that applies. We check your benefits and tell you what to expect before you agree to anything.
Once we have examined the tooth you get a written treatment plan with an itemized estimate covering both visits. Crown treatment is generally an eligible HSA and FSA expense, and financing is available.
