Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Cosmetic Porcelain Dental Crowns

Tooth damage can result from an accident or from runaway tooth decay. If neglected, this can cause subsequent tooth loss and create social awkwardness with a diminished smile.

Houston cosmetic dentists at the Medical Center Dental Group can resolve both of these issues at once by placing a porcelain crown on the tooth. This restores your ability to chew with that tooth, and it makes the tooth appear identical to natural surrounding teeth.

This is due largely to the nature of porcelain crowns themselves. Fired porcelain is one of the hardest substances used in cosmetic dentistry. It provides an excellent chewing surface for anyone with damaged teeth who longs to eat a normal diet again. Another great benefit that porcelain crowns offer is their translucent appearance which is almost indistinguishable from that of natural tooth enamel.

Due to their sophistication, porcelain crowns cannot simply be mass produced. They must be custom-made to fit a specific tooth in an individual patient’s mouth. If you are a candidate for a porcelain crown, you will need to schedule two appointments with the Medical Center Dental Group.

During your first appointment, your Houston Cosmetic Dentist will carefully surmise the degree of damage that has been done to your tooth. He or she will make the process as comfortable as humanly possible for you by numbing the area around your tooth so that you will not feel any pain during the procedure.

Your dentist will also protect your throat by putting a rubber dam in the back of your mouth. This will keep your air passageways open and your esophagus clear from any dental debris that might be produced while he or she uses a dental handpiece to remove any decayed matter found on your tooth.

While cleaning your teeth, your Houston dentist will also shape the tooth so it will better accommodate a crown fitting. Finally, the dentist will take an impression of your teeth and sends it off to the lab. When this model arrives at the lab, the technicians treat it like an exact replica of your mouth and use it to make a dental crown that precisely fits your tooth.

It may take up to two weeks to get your permanent porcelain crown back from the lab. To protect your tooth in the meantime, we will cover it with a temporary crown. When the porcelain crown comes back from the lab, you will be called in for your second appointment. Your dentist will remove the temporary trial fit you with your new permanent dental crown and to test your bite. If everything checks out, your dental crown is then bonded or cemented to your tooth.

A porcelain dental crown will give you many years of strength, durability, and an ideal match to the appearance of your natural teeth. Its cosmetic value carries with it an added health benefit as well. Because it looks so real, porcelain does not have to be embedded beneath the gumline like some other cosmetic tooth enhancements.

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