Residents in and around the area of New Westminster can rely on our dentists’ expertise. Our general dentists near you can make different types of crowns to help complete your smile.
When Does a Patient Require a Dental Crown?
While small cavities in the tooth can be sealed with fillings, sometimes so much of the tooth structure is missing that a filling will not work. Also when a tooth has had a root canal done and is brittle, a crown may be needed to protect it from breaking down. Placement of dental crowns near you involves grinding down the tooth and covering the entire tooth with the crown.
Can a Dental Crown Prevent a Cavity from Getting Bigger?
Under certain circumstances, having a dental crown can prevent a cavity from getting bigger as it helps protect a badly damaged or worn down tooth from breaking down further.
Once you book an appointment with our dentists in New Westminster, BC, we will evaluate and x-ray the damaged tooth to determine if a dental crown can help.
Dental Crown Procedure
To create room for the crown material to cover and protect the tooth, we will prepare it by removing tooth material from all sides.
If the remaining tooth structure is too little, we may build up the tooth foundation with filling material while preparing the tooth.
After the tooth has been prepared, we can scan it with an intraoral scanner and use the scan to design and mill your crown in the office while you wait. The process of designing and milling the crown takes about an hour. After the crown is milled, it is polished and cemented in the mouth.
In some cases, we may need to send your crown to the laboratory to have it made. In these cases, we will scan the tooth or take an impression and send this to our technician who will make the final crown. We will then place a temporary plastic crown on the tooth. We will have you come back in two weeks to have the plastic crown replaced with your permanent crown.
