A dental crown is a restoration that covers an entire tooth that has extensive damage, is badly worn down or very weak. The crown protects the tooth from breaking. A crown is sometimes referred to as a “cap.”
In years past, dental crowns were only made with a metal foundation. Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns protect the teeth, but the result is often an opaque look that does not look like your natural teeth.
If your front teeth need crowns, pure porcelain crowns not only protect the teeth, but look natural and give you a beautiful smile. Accreditation candidate Dr. Duane Delaune has the training and artistic eye required to ensure that your all-porcelain crowns match the characteristics, color and translucency of your natural teeth.
All-Porcelain Crowns Compared with Porcelain Fused to Metal
- All-porcelain crowns have translucency. They look like natural teeth.
- All-porcelain crowns are not as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal-crowns, so they must be bonded to the teeth to give them strength. Bonding techniques require the expertise of a cosmetic dentist who has received special training in those techniques.
- Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns can lack the translucency of natural teeth, and they develop a dark line at the gumline.
- Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns are strong enough to sustain the force of biting and chewing with the molar teeth. They are also easier to place. But there are some newer ceramics, such as those with a zirconia framework, that are strong enough to be used in the posterior.
- It’s more expensive to receive all-porcelain crowns from a cosmetic dentist than to receive porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns from a general dentist.
Below is a before picture of a patient with porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, and an after picture of the patient with all-porcelain crowns. The beautiful, natural-looking result of all-porcelain crowns speaks for itself.
