Emergency

Dental Crown

A crown (sometimes called a cap) is a tooth-shaped covering that fits over a single damaged or discolored tooth.

Designed to mimic the tooth’s exact shape and color, it covers the whole surface above the gum line, yet preserves the tooth’s roots. Crowns can be made of various materials: dental porcelain (including new high tech ceramics), Zirconia, porcelain-fused-to-metal is the most commonly used used.

When properly fabricated and placed, they look and function just like your natural teeth.

WHY DO I NEED A CROWN?

A dental crown may be needed in the following situations:

  1. To protect a weak tooth (for instance, from decay) from breaking or to hold together parts of a cracked tooth
  2. To restore an already broken tooth or a tooth that has been severely worn down
  3. To cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there isn’t a lot of tooth left
  4. To hold a dental bridge in place
  5. To cover misshapened or severely discolored teeth
  6. To cover a dental implant
  7. To make a cosmetic modification

BENEFITS OF CROWN

  1. Cosmetic – Dental crowns, which can be made from composite resin or porcelain fused to metal, can improve the look of broken, cracked, misshapen, or severely discolored teeth. Attached to an implant of dental bridge, a dental crown can also replace a missing tooth, restoring the look of your smile.
  2. Natural-looking – Porcelain and composite resin crowns resemble the look of natural teeth because they mimic the luster and translucency of natural teeth. Therefore, with dental crowns, patients can restore their damaged or missing teeth and give the illusion of always having a healthy, bright smile.
  3. Stain resistant – Dental crowns made from porcelain are stain resistant, making porcelain a superior choice for dental prosthetics.
  4. Durable – Dental crowns should last between five to fifteen years, depending on how you take care of them. In other words, do not put excessive pressure on your teeth with grinding or clenching, and you should expect to have your crowns for a long while.
  5. Do not slip – Unlike dentures, which can shift and slide, crowns stay in place because they are either cemented over your damaged tooth or implant, or anchored in place with a dental bridge to replace a missing tooth. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed by shifting teeth.
  6. Restorative – Due to their natural tooth-like features, crowns restore full function of your missing or damaged tooth. Crowns restore your ability to speak and chew.
  7. Protection – When used to cover damaged or decayed teeth, crowns also serve to protect the tooth from further decay. Crowns are used as caps that cup over and encase teeth, acting as a splint to bind together broken or cracked teeth, or as a shield to plaque buildup and further decay.
  8. Comfort –Crowns are a superior choice over full or partial dentures, which can cause pain and discomfort because they sit on top of the jawbone and gums and can also shift around in the mouth. Crowns, on the other hand, are stable and do not irritate gums.
  9. Speech – Missing teeth or ill-fitting dentures can affect a patient’s speech, making their speech sound slurred or lisped. Plus, missing teeth can cause jaw bone to shrink, further affecting a patient’s speech. Restoring missing teeth with crowns can help a patient speak confidently, in a relaxed tone.
  10. Confidence – Damaged or missing teeth can make patients feel self-conscious about their smile. If you have teeth that are severely damaged due to trauma, decay, or gum disease, consider restoring the look an function of your smile with dental crowns.

WHAT DOES A CROWN MADE OF?

  • Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns look most like normal teeth (next to all-ceramic crowns). However, sometimes the metal underlying the crown’s porcelain can show through as a dark line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede. These crowns can be a good choice for front or back teeth.
  • All-ceramic or all-porcelain dental crowns provide better natural color match than any other crown type and may be more suitable for people with metal allergies. However, they are not as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns and they wear down opposing teeth a little more than metal or resin crowns. All-ceramic crowns are a good choice for front teeth.

HOW LONG DOES A CROWN LAST?

Several factors are responsible to ensure that the crown lasts for many years. The key factors are:

  • How heavy your bite is
  • How well it is looked after
  • Your diet, which should have a very limited amount of sugary foods/drinks
  • Your oral health regime

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAID ABOUT US?

 

DENTAL CROWN PROCEDURES

What does the process of getting a dental crown involve?

Making and fitting a crown is a multi-step process and it requires at least two appointments to our clinic in Vietnam:

1. First appointment – examination & preparation for the crown

  • The first step your dentist will do before commencing any dental work is to have a comprehensive dental checkup. This is necessary not just to confirm that you are a good candidate for the crown, but also to find out and address any other potential issues before getting a crown done. Some X-rays might be taken to assess the roots of the tooth receiving the crown. Root canal treatment might be performed if the tooth is decayed.
  • Depending on the remaining tooth structure, your dentist may need to build up the foundation for the crown. This is required specially if your tooth is so broken or decayed that it will not support the crown. Post and core buildup is the most common way.
  • Once the foundation is successfully built, your dentist will file the tooth down to create necessary space for it. After that, he/she will take some impressions of the tooth and of opposite tooth to fabricate the porcelain crown.
  • Finally, your dentist will get a temporary crown placed to protect your tooth while waiting for the permanent crown to be made at our dental lab.

2. Second appointment – placement of the permanent crown

  • The previous impressions will be sent to our dental lab to fabricate the permanent crowns. This process takes about 3 – 4 days depending on number of crowns need to be made for the same preparation.
  • Once the crown is ready, your dentist will gently remove the temporary crown, then try it on to make sure it fits perfectly with the tooth. In some cases, some minor adjustments might be required to ensure it fits perfectly. Once your dentist determines that it fits well, he or she will cement it permanently to your tooth.

A dental crown that fits and cements properly will last many years. Under a proper care, it is not unusual for a crown to last more than 5 or 10 years.

COST OF DENTAL CROWN

How much does a crown cost in Vietnam?

It could be made of many different types of material: metal (precious, semi-precious and non-precious), porcelain fused to metal (nikel, titanium, Cobalt-chrome)

There are three types of materials commonly used:

  • Metal (precious, semi-precious and non-precious): Metal crown was very popular decades ago when ceramic technology is still in infant stage. Metal crown is extremely durable, however their aesthetics is very low. Due to advancement of ceramic technology, nobody wants metal crowns anymore.
  • Porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM): PFM crown is made from both metal (inside) and porcelain (outside). PFM crowns inherit the advantages from both types of material: durability of metal and aesthetics of porcelain. That’s why, PFM crowns are still very common today, especially for molars. However, they do not meet today’s esthetic standards for the front teeth.
  • All-ceramic, Zirconia: breakthrough of dental ceramic technology has set a new standards for dental crown. Functionally, they combine excellent biocompatibility and can stand huge chewing force. Aesthetically, they look exactly like natural teeth (or even better most of the time).

Serenity International Dental Clinic does not provide metal crown as we believe everybody deserves a perfect smile which metal crown could never offer.