Fitting the perfect dental crown is a blend of science and art. Dental crowns are “caps” that are placed over the top of a tooth. Once the crown is in place, the entire tooth is covered — from biting surface to the gum line. Dental crowns in Chestermere can accomplish a huge variety of dental goals. They can provide essential support for a damaged tooth, or one that has recently undergone root canal treatment. Crowns can anchor and lend support to dental bridges to replace missing teeth. A dental crown can also achieve cosmetic goals because they completely cover any discolouration or flaws in an otherwise healthy tooth.
What are crowns made of?
Dental crowns can be made of several materials including metal (chromium, gold, nickel, and palladium), porcelain fused to metal, fully resin, fully ceramic, fully porcelain, and pressed ceramic. Metal crowns are generally used only in out-of-view locations. Crowns that will be placed in visible locations in your mouth can be made of porcelain (either entirely or fused to metal), resin, ceramic, and porcelain. Sometimes, you can be provided with crowns in a single appointment. Same-day crowns are milled from ceramic materials right in the office of a dentist in Chestermere while you wait. One of the biggest advantages of dental crowns made of resin, ceramic, and porcelain can be coloured precisely. And that is where the art of dental crowns comes into play.
Choosing the colour of your dental crowns near you
Your dentist in Chestermere will show you a device called a shade guide. A shade guide is a card or device that holds several artificial teeth made out of porcelain. Each tooth on the shade guide will be a slightly different colour. Using that shade guide, your dentist will try to find a match to your natural teeth to select a colour for your crown. By applying that matching colour to your crown, that crown will blend naturally with your remaining teeth and subtly and discreetly within your smile, even if it would otherwise be visible.
All of that sounds completely straightforward, doesn’t it? Straightforward as it is, though, there are a few factors and considerations to keep in mind as you and a dentist near you choose the perfect colour for your new porcelain crown.
Lighting matters. Your dentist will ensure that you’re choosing a crown colour in lighting that reveals the colour most accurately. Natural light or fluorescent light is the best light for choosing.
Your clothes and makeup matter. Your clothing and makeup will affect the appearance of colours that you’ll be choosing from, as they also affect the appearance of your teeth on a day to day basis. When going to an appointment to select a crown colour, wear neutral clothing and makeup to avoid outside influences. Alternatively, your dentist may provide a neutral cloth to drape your clothing while choosing from the options on the shade guide.
Don’t expect to pick white. Odd as it may seem, your natural teeth are not — even at their cleanest and healthiest — white. Rather, the colour of your teeth falls on a spectrum between yellow to grey. You may be surprised that the best options for the colour of your crown are far from white, but that’s normal and to be expected.
Your crown can’t be bleached later. Your dentist will explain that — unlike your natural teeth — your porcelain crown can not be whitened once the colour has been chosen and the crown cemented into place. Both your crown and your teeth can be cleaned, but only your teeth can be bleached to be whiter. When selecting the colour of your crown, it’s essential that you choose a colour that will blend to your teeth at their cleanest and whitest. Otherwise, years down the later you may have your teeth whitened and suddenly find your crown stands out as far less white. For that reason, your dentist in Chestermere will recommend you have your teeth cleaned before you select your crown colour.
Whether you opt for a dental crown for functional, restorative, or purely cosmetic purposes, cosmetic considerations are significant in every case. Take the time to choose the colour of your crown carefully, and trust the expertise — and artistry — of your dentist in Chestermere.