There are many reasons a crown may be recommended to restore a tooth
including, fractures, replacement of very large old fillings, after root canal
therapy has been performed and when not enough healthy tooth remains to
support a filling.  When a crown is made, the tooth is first shaped so that the
crown can fit over it and still fit into your bite and smile.  Then impressions
are taken of the prepared tooth.  These impressions will be sent to the dental
laboratory where they will fabricate a crown custom designed to fit your
tooth.  The dentist or assistant will make a temporary crown for you to wear
while your crown is being made.  Once the crown has been fabricated, you
will return to the office where the dentist will remove the temporary and
replace it with your crown.  Our dentists generally use one of three types of
crowns.  Each serves a slightly different purpose:

All Porcelain Crown:
All porcelain crowns are generally used only for front teeth.  They do not
have the added strength of metal, meaning patients will need to be more
careful with them.  However, if a porcelain fused to metal crown is placed
on a front tooth, the metal could eventually show at the gumline due to gum
recession as you age.  The metal would look like a black line.  By using all
porcelain, there is no metal to show and no need to worry about black lines
after time.  

Porcelain Fused to High Noble Metal Crown (PFM):
PFM crowns have the strength to withstand the pressure created by chewing
because the inside of the crown is made from metal .  The outside is covered
with porcelain and is specifically designed to match the shading of your
natural teeth in the same area of your mouth, allowing the crown to blend in
with your teeth.


High Noble Metal or Gold Crowns:
Sometimes there is not enough room in a patients mouth to put porcelain
over the metal of a crown and still allow the patient to close their mouth
properly.  In this case the dentist can have the crown fabricated completely
out of metal.  This option provides excellent strength for chewing as well as
allowing the dentist to retain more tooth structure.
Porcelain Crown
Gold Crown
Gorham Family Dentistry, P.A.
Porcelain and Metal Crown
Model of a tooth prepared for a
crown
Crowns