The average front tooth dental crown will give you fifteen to thirty years of service before it will need to be replaced. Crowns are great for back teeth as well as front teeth and many are covered by dental insurance. The strongest materials for your crown are porcelain compared to resin.
What is a front tooth crown?
Crowns are a type of cap that covers your tooth entirely. They are usually applied to teeth that have sustained some type of damage or underwent extensive repair. You may also get a crown if you have a dental implant that fails or you have a crooked or small tooth that doesn’t line up. If you have teeth that are stained to the point that they will not bleach, you can consider using crowns to cover all the teeth and make them look better, giving you that confident smile.
Dental crowns are also great for covering over deep fillings to give the tooth more strength because the crown covers your tooth so completely. New technologies and new materials mean you can get crowns that are invisible because they exactly match the color of your natural teeth.
Your best bet for a front tooth crown is one made from either porcelain or ceramic, as they are the materials most likely to blend in with your natural teeth.
To ensure that you get the longest time out of your front tooth crown you should check out your dentist’s qualifications. By finding a good dentist who has a lot of experience with crowns and uses top-of-the-line materials, you stand a better chance of being able to keep your crowns for 30 years or more.
Depending on your dentist and whether or not he or she was able to get an impression of your teeth before beginning, you may have to have a temporary crown on your front teeth first while the final permanent crown or crowns are made. You should take care to be gentle with your temporary crown, as they are often just acrylic material.
Why a crown over a veneer?
On the front teeth, you may get a crown because it is less expensive than a porcelain veneer. Your dentist can color match the crown to match your teeth and accomplish the same result as a veneer.
A veneer does require less prep work on the teeth to get them ready to affix the veneer to when compared to a crown.
One thing to note – a crown, because it is a full cap over your natural teeth, is thicker than a veneer, and it is affixed to all surfaces, not just the front. By talking with your dentist about the process, and evaluating what you need, you both can decide which option is right for you.
Do crowns last forever?
Sadly, they don’t. Most will last you about 15 years, but with care and some top-quality materials, you may get them to last as many as 30 years. Crowns have a 90% success rate at ten years.
One thing you should note is that front teeth crowns tend to last longer than ones on the molars because they have a different stress load while eating and chewing.
Making sure you care for them as well as your natural tooth helps ensure that your crowns will last and that the tooth underneath won’t decay to the point of needing a root canal before the new crown is affixed.
How to care for a crown
To protect your dental crowns, as well as your natural teeth, you should take good care of them through brushing and flossing regularly. However, to protect your new crown, you should find gentle ways to floss to avoid pulling the crown off. If you got ceramic crowns on your front teeth, you should also use a mouth guard if you play contact sports to keep your teeth from breaking.
Other things you can do to protect your front tooth dental crowns include:
- Getting professional cleanings to remove plaque and tartar
- Wearing a mouth guard at night if you grind your teeth in your sleep
- Avoiding biting into really hard items like ice cubes or sticky foods like taffy
- Avoid foods and beverages that can stain your teeth
- Avoid using your teeth to tear open packages – they are not replacements for scissors
- If you are one who chews on pen caps or pencils, you should find another way of fidgeting
- If you bite your nails, this might be the time to stop that habit
If you want to get a teeth whitening procedure, you should do that first. The porcelain or ceramic does not bleach as your natural teeth do, and the American Dental Association says that teeth whitening treatments are not very effective on crowns as a result.
Insurance coverage for a front tooth crown
Your insurance company may provide coverage for your crowns. It depends partly on what your policy will cover, and also whether you are looking at using the crowns instead of porcelain veneers as cosmetic dentistry. If that is the case, your insurance plan is probably not going to cover them.
If you have had crowns, and you end up needing to replace them, as long as they are at least five years old and were medically needed, your insurance will probably cover at least half of the cost of replacement.
Complications from crowns
Right after you have had a crown put on, your teeth may be more sensitive to pressure or to temperatures temporarily. This is more often than not caused by the process of prepping the tooth for the crown. You can use sensitive teeth toothpaste for a while to help until the area can heal.
If your dentist made the crown a little too long, it may end up pushing into your gum and causing you some pain. If that happens, call your dentist and have him or she replace the crown with a different one that fits better.
If you have a metal allergy, be sure to let your dentist know so that s/he can get a different material for you and give you ceramic crowns or porcelain crowns.
In sum…
Dental crowns are tooth-shaped caps that fit completely over your teeth to cover any damage or imperfections or to complete your tooth after a root canal. They can be used in place of veneers to help fix cosmetic issues on your front teeth as well. Your dental insurance plan may cover part or all of the cost of your front tooth dental crown. Your best crown for a front tooth depends on what you need and what your dentist recommends.
Contact Us
IVANOV Orthodontic Experts, 12866 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami, FL 33181
https://www.google.com/maps?cid=154326063970645489
Call us at (786) 540-1919 to schedule a free orthodontic exam.
Learn more about How Long Do Veneers Last? at https://ivanovortho.com/how-long-do-veneers-last/
