What Types Of Dental Crowns Are Available?

Dental crowns, dental overlays or dental veneers can be made to create beautiful natural looking teeth whilst also strengthening the underlying tooth.

So what types of dental crowns are available at Milford Dentists, North Shore, in Auckland?

The types of dental crowns that are available

Emax crowns on front teeth

1) All ceramic dental crowns & dental overlays & dental veneers made from different porcelains – There are many different types of porcelain to make dental restorations from. In my opinion, Emax porcelain is the most incredible & exciting material for making dental restorations & it has been my crown material of choice since 2008.

Because this porcelain mimics actually tooth structure, it makes beautiful natural looking crowns. It is incredibly strong (3-4 times more fracture resistant than a porcelain fused to metal crown). As well as being super fracture resistant it can be bonded to a tooth. This laminate effect makes the restoration even stronger

• This bonding means the crown is highly unlikely to be dislodged
• The bonding technology significantly reduces post placement symptoms
• This bonding also helps hold fractured teeth together preventing cracks from getting bigger

Because the crown overlay is bonded to the tooth it requires less tooth to grip onto which means overlay preparations are very conservative ie more of your tooth is saved.

Porcelain Fused to Metal Bridge

2) Porcelain crowns fused to an inner metal thimble (PFM's). This type of crown was the most frequently placed for decades. There is still a place for this type of crown but it has mostly been superseded by Emax crowns and overlays. PFM’s can be placed

- In cosmetic situations where the teeth surrounding the tooth to be crowned also have PFM’s

- Over a dental implant

As part of a dental bridge where the metal connectors in the centre of the bridge are required for strength. The porcelain is fused on the outside of the metal framework

Gold Crown

3) Metal crowns made of gold or semi-precious alloys. In areas where a tooth is subjected to a lot of chewing forces – for instance on the second permanent molars, these restorations are often a good option

4) Composite resin crowns can be placed as temporary crowns, overlays or dental bridges. They tend to wear out quite quickly which is why they are not used in a permanent situation

Zirconia Crowns

5) Zirconium crowns are even stronger than Emax crowns, however, they do not look as beautiful. An option is to place them on teeth which traditionally would have had a gold or semi-precious crown

Read more in our blog on "cost of Dental Crowns" 

Posted by Andrea

Milford Dentists is proud to help the good people of the North Shore with all their dental requirements; especially in our mission to help you strengthen & beautify your teeth - From Devonport and Belmont up through Takapuna, Castor Bay, Mairangi Bay & Browns Bay as well as Albany, Northcote, Hillcrest, the Whangaporoa Peninsula and beyond give us a call - 09 4896575.