Crowns are typically placed over teeth following a root canal procedure and to serve as an anchor for a bridge. Crowns are a long-lasting method to preserve your existing teeth while maintaining their natural appearance. Our top dentist can create a dental crown out of a variety of materials. Among the most common are:
Metal. Metal crowns have a long and successful dental history. Gold, palladium, nickel, titanium, and chromium are all excellent crown materials. They are durable and require minimal tooth removal before placement. Their strength and unnatural color, however, make them better suited for teeth in the back of your mouth.
Zirconia. Considered a part of the titanium family of metals, zirconia has recently become a popular and effective material for dental crowns. The zirconia dental cap begins as a cube, and your dentist uses a computerized cutting machine to shape it for your tooth. During a single appointment, your dentist can measure, fit, and cement the crown into place.
BruxZir. This solid zirconia crown is ideal for bridges, single tooth implants, onlays, and inlays. Prized for its strength and durability, the BruxZir crown’s disadvantage used to be its poor color matching. But they recently developed a shaded formulation that makes it more translucent and natural-looking. These crowns are also backed by a seven-year manufacturer warranty.
Metal covered with porcelain. The porcelain cover matches the color of your teeth while maintaining the advantages of metal crowns. Unfortunately, the underlying metal can still show through, and the porcelain can chip off, revealing the metal. They are used by dentists on both front and back teeth.
Pure resin. These crowns are inexpensive, but they tend to wear down quickly.
Pure ceramic or porcelain. These tooth crowns are hypoallergenic and offer the best tooth color match. While they are an excellent choice for front teeth, they are not as strong as metal crowns and tend to wear down other teeth with which they make contact.
eMax crowns. eMax crowns are a pure ceramic crown variant that is praised for its beauty, strength, and durability. The downsides of the eMax crown include a higher price tag and some brittleness when used on back teeth. They work best on your front teeth.
Pressed ceramic. These crowns have porcelain caps and a hard inner ceramic core. They offer superior color matching and more strength than pure porcelain.