Rebuilding Broken Teeth
Maybe you didn’t have a cavity treated in time and now a significant portion of the tooth is decayed. Or perhaps your smile is generally healthy, but you suddenly ended up with a broken tooth after an accident. Damaged teeth can be a serious oral health issue, and you should call the Premier Dental team as soon as possible to have them treated. In many cases, the answer for restoring your smile is a durable dental crown made just for you.
Highly Trained Prosthodontists
Lifelike, Long-Lasting Materials
Fully Customized Restorations
What Is a Dental Crown?
Dental crowns are time-tested restorations that have been around in one form or another for thousands of years. A single crown can completely cover your tooth to bring it back to its original size and shape. Not only can it protect the tooth, but it also strengthens it to the point where it can safely be used for chewing again. In many cases, your crown can be made out of material that resembles enamel so that the restored tooth still looks natural.
You may be a good candidate for a dental crown if you have a badly fractured tooth or if you have a particularly large cavity. It may also be necessary to place a crown after a root canal treatment, or we might attach one to a dental implant to replace a single missing tooth.
The Dental Crown Process
Having a dental crown placed typically involves these steps:
- Our team will examine your mouth to confirm that you’re a candidate for a crown.
- Small amounts of enamel will be filed away from your tooth to create space for the restoration to help it stay in place.
- We will take an impression of the prepared tooth and the tooth below it. This is to ensure that your crown fits properly and doesn’t cause problems for your bite.
- A temporary crown will be placed on your tooth.
- A dental lab will create your permanent crown and send it to our office for placement.
- The final restoration will be attached to your tooth, and we’ll give you instructions for taking care of it.
The Benefits of Getting a Dental Crown
It’s no surprise that dental crowns have been used for so long. After all, there are plenty of advantages to having them placed, such as:
- Keeping Your Teeth Safe: Leaving any kind of dental damage exposed could cause it to grow worse, but a dental crown can help ensure that your tooth stays protected.
- Letting You Chew Normally Again: Once your damaged tooth is restored, it will no longer be an obstacle to enjoying your favorite foods.
- Improving Your Smile: Covering up dental damage with a natural-looking crown can make it easier for you to show off your grin without worrying about its appearance.
- Durability:Dental crowns can last a long time. Well-maintained ones might even be able to stay in the mouth for 15 years or more.
Understanding the Cost of Dental Crowns
Because dental crown treatments can be as different as the smiles they protect, there is no flat fee for this procedure. The only way to get an exact price is to visit your dentist in person for a consultation so we can examine the tooth and determine an appropriate treatment plan. To learn more about what goes into calculating the cost of a dental crown, please keep reading below.
There are several important factors that can affect the cost of your dental crown treatment. These include:
- The severity of the damage to your tooth, and whether other procedures will be needed first, such as a root canal.
- The type of material used to make your dental crown.
It is also important to remember that when it comes to getting a dental crown, cheaper doesn’t mean better. When it comes to restorations that will go in your mouth, quality matters. You want your new crown to not just look realistic but also feel good and last for as long as possible.
Because dental crowns are considered a major procedure, most dental insurance plans will likely cover around 50% of their cost if they are deemed medically necessary. At Premier Dental, our team will be happy to help you confirm your dental insurance coverage and verify if your plan will cover your new crown before treatment begins.
We are proud to welcome most PPO insurance plans to make your dental crown treatment more affordable. Additionally, we are also happy to accept payment plans from our preferred third-party financier, CareCredit. With CareCredit, you can apply for a low-to-no interest payment plan that allows you to break up the cost of your dental care into smaller monthly payments.
For those patients who do not have dental insurance, we are also pleased to offer our own in-house membership plan, that in addition to providing regular preventive care for a low annual fee also provides a valuable 10% discount on restorative treatments such as dental crowns.
At Premier Dental, we’re here to help you manage the cost of your dental crown treatment. To learn more about this important procedure, please schedule a consultation today, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have, as well as discuss your financial options.
Dental Crowns FAQs
As you likely guessed from the name, a temporary crown is not designed to last. So, it’s important that you take certain precautions while you have one, including avoiding crunchy and sticky foods. It’s also a good idea to exercise caution with very hot and cold foods, like soup and ice cream, to avoid sensitivity. Basically, it’s best to stick to cottage cheese, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, and other extremely soft foods since they don’t require much chewing power.
Even your final restoration will not be permanent. The good news is that yours can last for well over a decade if you take good care of it. That starts with daily habits, like brushing your teeth twice a day, and extends to coming to our office every six months for a checkup and cleaning.
Though very long-lasting, dental crowns themselves aren’t permanent. The caps have limited lifespans – an average of five to fifteen years – and need replacement every so often.
The only thing “permanent” about crown treatment is how it alters your teeth. After all, a dentist must reshape your tooth to make room for the final restoration. The enamel “shaved away” by this process doesn’t grow back, meaning you’ll always need a dental crown in the future.
Granted, you can take steps to help your crown last as long as possible. These include good oral hygiene habits, regular dental checkups/cleanings, proper use of a mouthguard, etc.
Important reminder: If you start to notice anything unusual, like your dental crown has a noticeably worse appearance, don’t wait – contact us ASAP to schedule an appointment.
Losing a crown isn’t as urgent as some other dental injuries, like a knocked-out tooth. With that said, we do recommend calling our Vero Beach dental team right away. Over the phone, we can learn more about what happened, schedule an appointment at our office before the end of the week, and walk you through how to protect your tooth and your restoration in the meantime.
We can say with complete confidence that dental crowns in Vero Beach look and feel extremely natural. There are a few reasons for this, starting with the fact that they are crafted from only the best dental materials. The size, shape, and shade of each one are also custom-made for you, which ensures that it won’t feel bulky or unnatural in any way.
This list of FAQs wouldn’t be complete without answering this question. Rest assured, we will numb your mouth thoroughly while addressing decay or any other damage. As for the second visit, which is when we will secure the final dental crown in place, it’s not usually necessary to use a local anesthetic. With that said, we are here to help you have the calm, comfortable experience that you deserve. So, if you would feel better if we numbed your mouth for the placement, don’t hesitate to let us know!
Even if rumors say otherwise, it honestly doesn’t hurt to get a dental crown in Vero Beach. The treatment process is pain-free, smooth, and lacks any discomfort.
The treating dentist will numb your mouth before they even start working. By applying a topical anesthetic to the treatment site, they’ll ensure you don’t feel a thing from the crown work. The most you might sense is slight pressure as the dental team “prepares” your tooth.
If you do experience aches, they’ll likely occur after your treatment is over. Such soreness is temporary and fades within a few days. Also, taking over-the-counter medications should help you manage it.
When choosing to use your dental insurance to cover the cost of dental crowns in Vero Beach, you can expect your insurer to pay a portion of the total cost, not all of it. Also, if you have one or more crowns placed for cosmetic purposes, it’s unlikely they’ll be covered at all.
Dental insurance companies only pay a portion of treatment when it is medically necessary, so if you have damaged or decayed teeth that need repair, you can expect anywhere from 50-80% of the total to be picked up by your insurance company.
No, a dental crown cannot develop a cavity; however, the tooth that resides underneath the restoration can still be vulnerable to decay and damage. This is why it’s important to take proper care of your dental crown so that bacteria, food particles, and other debris do not access the tooth underneath.
While it is true that dental crowns cannot last forever, requiring replacement after 15+ years, you can be sure to practice good oral hygiene, see your dentist every six months for a dental checkup and cleaning, and avoid harmful habits to keep your smile healthy day after day.
Waiting longer than necessary to receive a dental crown can put the remainder of your smile at risk. Not only can decay spread to nearby teeth and other areas of the mouth, but you might require a more invasive method of treatment to fix it, such as a root canal or tooth extraction.
The best step you can take is to seek professional treatment as soon as possible if you notice that your tooth needs added protection. Also, if you have an existing crown and believe it needs work, don’t wait to come in and see us.
In most cases, your dentist in Vero Beach will be able to tell you if you need to have your dental crown replaced. However, if you notice any of the following before arriving for your appointment, you can expect to be recommended for treatment.
Some of the most common signs associated with dental crown replacement include:
- Pain that resides underneath the crown
- A dark line that forms along the base (this will usually only occur when using amalgam materials)
- A loose crown that could fall out when trying to eat
- Your crown is damaged (i.e., chipped, cracked, or discolored)
The best thing you can do is call and schedule an appointment with your restorative dentist right away. This will give you the greatest chance to save your smile and avoid further problems in the future.
A dental crown should be 100% safe, assuming it’s placed by a trained and experienced dentist. The cap will protect your tooth without harming your smile (or other body parts).
For starters, our office only uses materials like ceramic for dental crowns. Such substances are free of toxins and unlikely to cause allergic reactions (and similar effects). To that extent, your final crown shouldn’t lead to lasting concerns or complications for you.
The placement process of dental crowns is also safe. When dentists “prep” your teeth for them, they only shave away slight amounts of enamel. The final crown compensates for this lost material, so treatment won’t put you at greater risk of cavities, tooth sensitivity, etc.
As sad as it is to say, dental crowns can’t be whitened. Their makeup prevents treatment from altering their coloring.
They also don’t discolor as easily as your natural teeth either. So, if you brush consistently, use a straw when drinking coffee, and schedule a dental cleaning every six months, it should stay in pristine condition year after year.
Note that teeth whitening works by “bleaching” your smile. Once its special gel enters the tiny pores in your tooth enamel, it removes stains built up from food debris, plaque, etc. Dental crowns lack such pores because they’re artificial; the result is that bleaching gel won’t affect them.
If you want to correct this issue, talk to your local dentist. They may suggest that you get teeth whitening before your final crown is placed. That way, your restoration will match the ideal shade you want.
The average dental crown lasts anywhere from five to fifteen years. That said, the lifespan of your own cap will depend on a wide range of elements.
The most crucial factor is your crown’s material, as what your restoration is made of will impact its overall durability and strength. Metal crowns tend to have longer lifespans than metal-free ones, with most lasting 20 years or more. In contrast, those made of porcelain will work for roughly 10-15 years.
Besides restoration material, your lifestyle is the next biggest influence on a crown’s lifespan. After all, your cap will only last a long time if you practice good oral hygiene and avoid bad oral habits. It’ll otherwise fail quickly due to chips, cracks, or worsening decay.
Dental crowns are sometimes tax-deductible, assuming you can prove they’re medically necessary. That said, there are several points you should keep in mind.
One is that you’ll have to itemize the expense instead of taking a standard deduction. As for the reason, all medical expenses fall under the 7.5% rule. You can thus only deduct your crown’s cost if it exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. (That also means you can’t deduct costs reimbursed or covered by dental insurance.)
The difference between temporary and permanent crowns lies in their names. The former kind are short-lived and stop working quickly, while the latter ones can last a long time.
A temporary crown is only supposed to work until your permanent one is ready. Therefore, it’s only made of inexpensive materials like acrylic or composite resin. Such substances are inherently fragile and tend to chip or break rather easily, so much so you can only brush crowns made of them gently. That means a temporary crown won’t work well for more than a few weeks.
On the other hand, a permanent crown is made of strong materials like porcelain, ceramic, etc. It can thus withstand the pressure of chewing and biting for at least five to ten years.