How Dental Crowns Save Teeth

Protecting your teeth from harm is fairly simple when good hygiene is practiced. Brushing and flossing every day controls the bacteria that cause tooth decay, and six-month dental checkups and cleanings allow Dr. Smith to detect and treat early signs of trouble. Unfortunately, prevention isn’t always successful, and dental care for many patients involves repairing injured or infected teeth and protecting them from further harm. With one or more custom-made dental crowns, your Grand Prairie dentist, Dr. Quinn Smith, can help restore your smile after your teeth have suffered damage, or have been treated for cavities. In extreme cases, a dental crown can even replace a lost or extracted tooth without the need for a conventional dental bridge.

A dental crown is a replica of the top half of your tooth, also called a crown, that rests above the gum line. Usually made from lifelike dental porcelain, dental crowns are designed to imitate your natural tooth’s shape, size, color, and ability to reflect light. Dr. Smith may recommend porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns for increased durability, usually for back molars that are exposed to more pressure. When a tooth is cracked or fractured, it cannot heal itself, and Dr. Smith can place a crown over it to protect the tooth from the pressures of biting and chewing. When tooth decay infects a tooth, treatment requires removing the infected tooth structure and replacing it with a dental filling to stop the spread of the disease. If a significant amount of structure is removed, Dr. Smith may recommend placing a dental crown over it for further protection. As a cosmetic option, dental crowns can also completely conceal a severely blemished tooth and rejuvenate its appearance.

As innovative dental restorations, dental crowns provide lifelike solutions for restoring a damaged tooth. To replace a lost or extracted tooth, Dr. Smith may recommend a dental implant, which is surgically inserted into the jawbone to replace a lost tooth root, topped with a realistic dental crown. As the jawbone heals around a dental implant, it fuses to the implant’s biocompatible titanium surface, making the implant a part of your jawbone (like a natural tooth root). Placing a dental crown on top of the implant creates a replacement tooth that mimics your healthy tooth’s root-and-crown design.

Dr. Quinn Smith is a well-respected and highly experienced dentist in Grand Prairie, TX. He takes a patient-first approach that starts from the moment patients enter our Park Tree Dental office, and he offers a three-year guarantee on all dental work that he performs. Whether you’re a new or returning patient, you can schedule a consultation or your next appointment with Dr. Smith by contacting us at (972) 262-5111.