There are many reasons why people may consider getting a dental crown. Some get it in order to restore their teeth’s strength, size, and shape, and improve its physical appearance, while others get it in order to restore a broken or damaged tooth or to support a dental bridge. A few more people get a dental crown for cosmetic purposes.

Whatever the case, start by finding a great local family dentist that you feel comfortable going to. Also, you need to know what will happen when the dentist puts-in a crown and what he/she will do before the actual procedure.

Although you don’t need to know everything about the procedure, knowing some of it can help know the time it will take and things to expect in order to plan your day well.

This is the initial step that your dentist will perform during the procedure. It involves anesthetizing (numbing up) your tooth and the area surrounding it (the gum tissue). If the tooth has ever had a root-canal treatment, anesthetization will not actually be needed, but the dentist can still consider using an anesthetic to numb up the gum tissue.

In order to place an ideal crown for your tooth, the dentist needs to take the actual models of both your lower and upper dental arches. Such models are taken to the laboratory so as to make your tooth crown. In circumstances where you choose a PFM (a porcelain fused to metal crown), the actual shape of the tooth is required before it is prepared for the next steps.

A tooth-crown must match the entire detail of the tooth, with a cap-like hollow space inside. For the actual crown to fit accurately, the core remaining underneath the crown must be cut in order to adapt the crown on top. The crown is made in such a way that it fits securely keeping out dangerous bacteria from reaching the helpless tooth structure.

For a tooth crown procedure, a tooth preparation involves trimming away some parts of the tooth and removing the filling matter so that the crown may fit well. If a tooth decay is discovered during this step, it is completely removed and a similar core is put on the tooth. A core may also be placed if you had a root canal treatment before.

Once the core is completely placed, the dentist will continue reducing the size of your tooth on the chewing area of the core to create a perfect shape so as to help the crown with stability and retention during placement. This step is very important and can take a lot of time to finish.

Once your tooth is perfectly shaped, your dentist will require to create its copy by simply taking an accurate tooth impression. Actual impressions are very important, and any mess during this step can result in a poorly-fitted crown.

Your dentist will either use a Conventional or an Optical dental impression to check your actual impression. The conventional way is commonly used by most dentists.

In this step, your biting rate is determined and it is better to become patient since it can take more than 5 minutes for the conventional paste (the impression material) to set completely. The dentist may also repeat the step several times so as to obtain an accurate measure.

You need to put a temporary crown for about 2 weeks until your actual crown is made ready. This will temporarily keep your tooth in position and protect it against further damage.

During this step, the dentist will numb up your tooth (although it is not necessarily needed) and remove the previous crown. Then he/she will clean the tooth to get rid of any remnants left behind by the crown. It is then dried and the permanent crown is tested. In case of any problems, the crown is taken back to the lab to be rebuilt.

If the crown fits perfectly, it is set for the final preparation (cementation) during which your tooth is kept free from saliva. The dentist will then fit the crown and wait for some minutes for it to be set. He will then scrutinize how all the teeth bite, chew or grind together.

You will be given special precautions by your dentist in order to take great care of the new dental crown for the cement to heal completely. In addition, the areas that have been anesthetized needs to be completely worn off. If it doesn’t heal quickly, you need to inform the dentist so that he/she can give instructions on what you should do.

This is all you need to know about what you should expect when you need to get a dental crown. The procedure is simple and not complicated. Patience is what is needed most in order to get your new crown to work perfectly.
In addition, you should keep your gums healthy for crowns and bridges to work smart.