Dental Crowns Leominster MA
Most dentistry looks like dentistry. Our goal is to provide dentistry that is undetectable. We replace existing crowns and fillings with restorations that look and feel like your natural teeth.
Where damage to a person's teeth is extreme, and apparently beyond repair, we can use porcelain or porcelain "pasted on gold" crowns to make the smile appear "as new". This is an extremely reliable technique for repairing the most severe of dental problems, even permanently replacing missing teeth to offer a complete smile and a functional bite. These treatments are used for a long-lasting correction of major dental problems.
How long does it take to fit a dental crown?
Fitting a crown requires at least two visits to our office. Initially, we will remove decay, shape the tooth, and fit it with a temporary crown.
On the subsequent visit we will remove the temporary crown, and then fit and adjust the final crown. Finally, we will cement the crown into place and you have a new beautiful looking tooth.
Key Benefits of Dental Crowns
- Replaces missing teeth
- Offers support to misshapen teeth or badly broken teeth
- Looks completely natural
- Fixes "smile" and functional chewing problems
What are the capabilities of crowns?
Crown and bridgework is a very reliable solution for major dental problems caused through accidents, diseases or wear and tear. Major problems can usually be corrected using these techniques. Material used in these repairs is either high-grade porcelain, or porcelain bonded to gold. A higher strength of the porcelain and gold materials is recommended to treat the most serious of dental problems. Where accidental damage has occurred, resulting in lost teeth, or where teeth have broken away through excessive wear, or as the result of old fillings breaking, crowns and/or bridges can be used as a long-term solution.
Many people have unexplained pain from filled back teeth, which is usually due to hairline cracks in the chewing part of the tooth. Placing crowns on these teeth relieves the pain and allows a return of full dental function for these teeth. In front teeth, older fillings can both weaken the teeth and cause "appearance" problems due to staining or chipping. Porcelain crowns and bridges are suitable in cases where porcelain veneers are not. In teeth with root canal fillings, crowns can prevent breakage.
Before and After Photos
Badly Damaged Teeth
Ed had many old, worn, and stained fillings in his front teeth
as well as several areas of decay. He wanted a new smile in time
for a trip he'd been planning to take with some friends.
Temporay Crowns
The damage to Ed's teeth was too severe to repair with fillings.
Instead, his teeth were prepared for six porcelain crowns.
The above photo shows Ed's temporary crowns, placed at his first visit.*
Permanent Porcelain Crowns
The Final Result: The permanent porcelain crowns were bonded in place
three weeks later.
This photo was taken after Ed had returned from vacation. He reported that
a close friend had cried when she saw him, she was so thrilled to see
his transformation.
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Outdated Crowns
Don's crowns looked great when they were new, but were clearly in
need of an update.
Updated Crowns
The old acrylic-baked-on-gold crowns were replaced with a set
of state-of-the-art, all-ceramic crowns and Don instantly looked
about 10 years younger!
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Old Composite Fillings/Bonding
Nancy had a combination of composite fillings and bonding done when
she was a teenager, to repair chips, fill in gaps, and make her baby canine
look more like an adult tooth. Over the years, they became stained, worn,
and dull-looking.
New Porcelain Crowns
Since there was a great deal of tooth structure to be rebuild and repair, veneers
would not do the job. Porcelain crowns were placed to give Nancy a smile she was
proud to show off. (Later, she can choose crowns or braces to get those two
back left teeth looking their best!)
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Dark Tooth
Amy didn't like the dark tooth and was also unhappy with the color and shape
of her two front teeth. The dark tooth turned out to have a dead nerve. It would
have continued to discolor and become infected had we not intervened with
appropriate treatment.
Porcelain Restorations Plus Cosmetic Whitening
After treating the dead nerve, the tooth was reinforced with a porcelain
crown. Cosmetic whitening plus veneers on the two front teeth gave Amy
the smile she was looking for.
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* Temporary crowns can offer a "preview" to how the permanent ones willlook. Although they may look great at first, they're designed to last only a
Clincal photos courtesy of Dr. Carolyn Schweitzer