Decades ago, the outlook for a damaged tooth was far from favorable. Your options were to wait it out, assuming the tooth would cause discomfort, or pull the tooth. Fortunately, a lot has changed. Thanks to dental crowns, you can avoid a number of unwelcome oral scenarios. That’s because crowns can do a lot, from protecting a badly decayed tooth to helping fill in a gap in your smile.
Here at Modern Day Dental in Santa Clara, California, Andrew Day, DDS, and our team offer crowns in a number of instances because they can help you enjoy the healthiest, most beautiful smile possible. Here are a few times when we may suggest a crown for your tooth:
To protect a damaged tooth
You’re probably familiar with crowns after a root canal. After the involved treatment to save the tooth, extra steps need to be taken to protect it against further damage and decay. Enter your dental crown. The crown goes over your tooth like a cap, giving it the hard outer shell it no longer has. Crowns play an integral role in giving patients the best possible outcome after a root canal.
But that’s not the only case in which Dr. Day may recommend a crown for tooth decay or damage. If you have a tooth with a large crack or extensive decay, the crown can help to stop the oral situation from worsening. In short, a crown could be what your mouth needs to protect a tooth that’s in dire straits.
To restore a tooth’s appearance
Dr. Day uses crowns because they’re not just just effective, they’re also great-looking. He color-matches the crown to your surrounding teeth so it looks, feels, and functions just like a natural tooth.
That means that if you have a tooth you don’t like the look of — whether it’s badly stained or oddly shaped — Dr. Day may be able to use a crown to cover the issue.
To anchor a bridge
Bridges replace missing teeth. They hold the replacement tooth in place by anchoring it to the teeth on either side of the gap in your smile. And they do that using crowns.
The replacement tooth gets attached to crowns that go over the tooth on either side of your gap. Once the crowns are cemented to those teeth, the replacement tooth gets anchored in place so you can talk and eat normally.
All told, crowns give Dr. Day a versatile way to protect and improve your smile. If you’d like to learn more about crowns or you think you might need one, don’t hesitate to call our office or request an appointment online today.