Dental Crowns – Staten Island, NY
Lifelike, Long-Lasting Porcelain Crowns
Your teeth are made from the strongest substance in the human body: enamel. While this substance is capable of lasting for life with proper care, sometimes teeth need professional restoration to perform their best and remain healthy. Today, crowns are considered one of the most common services provided by dentists thanks to their versatility, longevity, and esthetics. If you believe you may need a dental crown or you’re unsure about the process, please give our dentists a call today to schedule an appointment at NU Dental Staten Island!
What is a Dental Crown?
Also known as caps, dental crowns are personalized dental restorations designed to fit over modified teeth in order to restore them as closely as possible to their original form and function. If you’re told you need to have a dental crown, it’s likely because you have a cavity that is too large to be resolved with a dental filling, you’ve cracked or chipped your tooth, or you have major discolorations that don’t respond to teeth whitening. In other cases, dental crowns can be used to create complex tooth replacements such as dental implants, bridges, and dentures.
The Dental Crown Process
To create your new dental crown, we first need to capture a digital impression of your tooth. Ahead of this scan, we carefully remove a small amount of enamel from the existing tooth to ensure it fits the crown properly. Once we complete the digital scan of your tooth, we place a temporary crown on top while the permanent crown is being fabricated at a trusted, offsite dental lab.
After about two weeks, you’ll come back to our office to have the temporary crown removed and the permanent crown attached. Upon placing the crown, we’ll ensure that it fits correctly and keeps your bite even. Our crowns are made from porcelain and custom-shaded to match your neighboring teeth to ensure the best esthetics possible.
The Benefits of Getting a Dental Crown
If you have a damaged tooth and you don’t get a dental crown when you need one, the tooth will continue to break down. Crowns also help reduce the risk of you needing root canal therapy (to treat an infection) or an extraction. Not only are these treatments more difficult to complete, but they are much more expensive to receive compared to a dental crown alone.
Once the crown is attached, you can not only restore the appearance of your tooth, but ensure chewing feels comfortable again. With proper maintenance, you can expect your dental crown to last 15 years and longer. Basic oral hygiene like brushing, flossing, and never using your tooth as a tool will help increase the longevity of your dental crown as well.