Teeth have a hard job. You bite and chew about a million times a year, and your teeth have to do that for decades, and all the while they’re being attacked by acids or subjected to external trauma. It’s no wonder that they might be damaged. For minor cavities and damage, composite fillings work well, but with more extensive damage, you need stronger restorations. Modern dental crowns, inlays, and onlays are made from advanced ceramics even stronger than your tooth enamel, and they can beautifully restore the appearance of your smile.
Modern Dental Crowns
Modern dental crowns restore structurally compromised teeth to full function, durability, and beauty.
A custom-made crown covers the portion of a tooth that extends above the gum line. Dr. Safarian places aesthetic crowns, made from advanced ceramic or porcelain fused to metal.
Dental crowns can save many teeth that you might think can’t be saved. They can repair teeth that are:
- Heavily decayed
- Deeply cracked
- Infected
- Badly discolored
- Small or poorly shaped
Most often, dental crowns are used when a tooth has experienced major damage. This could be due to decay from oral bacteria or trauma that compromises the structural integrity of the tooth. When a tooth is badly damaged, a dental crown not only provides support–it protects the tooth from future decay.
Dental crowns are also used after root canal therapy. In root canal therapy, the infected part of the tooth is removed, which can weaken the tooth. A dental crown helps strengthen the tooth and protect it against future infection.
Modern dental crowns are made of advanced ceramics that are as beautiful as they are strong. Sometimes we use dental crowns for the same functions as veneers: to reshape and whiten your natural teeth. We usually only use a crown in situations where a veneer wouldn’t have enough support.
Dental crowns can restore a badly damaged smile. Not only can they repair damaged teeth, they can help replace missing teeth by supporting a dental bridge.
Dental Inlays and Onlays
Dental inlays and onlays are a type of advanced ceramic filling that is both more beautiful and stronger than composite fillings. Composite fillings work well for small cavities, but for larger cavities, inlays and onlays can last longer and can restore strength to the damaged teeth. They are a great intermediate treatment between a filling and a crown, and they let us preserve more of your natural tooth material. This is important because, despite the advances of modern dentistry, no material is as good as your natural tooth enamel.
Dental inlays are smaller, and they fit completely inside the chewing surface of your teeth. Onlays are larger, extending up to one or more of the high parts of the tooth, called the cusps.
Upgrade Your Fillings
Another use for inlays and onlays is replacing metal amalgam fillings. There’s nothing pleasant about metal amalgam fillings. They look unattractive, especially when they turn black as they rust. They can make your teeth sensitive to heat and cold. They can add a metallic flavor to your mouth, and can even cause electric currents to spring up when you use metal eating utensils.
And they contain toxic mercury. So it’s no wonder that many people want to get rid of these old fillings.
Inlays and onlays are perfect for this task. Almost all metal amalgam fillings are large–even treating a small cavity required a dentist to drill deeply into the tooth. So if we want to replace them, composite fillings won’t do. But inlays and onlays can replace your metal amalgam fillings with beauty, strength, and comfort–no more metal in your smile.
Beautiful Dental Crowns
If your teeth have been damaged, you don’t have to accept that your beautiful smile is lost. Instead, we offer restorative dentistry that can give you back your irresistible smile. To learn more about your restorative dentistry options, contact us.