Artificial crowns can be integrated into tooth stumps, but also into dental implants, whereby both screwed and cemented restorations can be used on dental implants.
Menu
The natural tooth is prepared for an artificial crown, which means it is ground down to about 0.5 mm below the gum line. A step, usually in the form of a step or a concave shape, is milled into the neck of the tooth.
Before this preparation, the tooth color is determined so that the new crown can be harmoniously integrated into the remaining teeth. The chewing surface or cutting edge must also be ground down enough to leave enough space to the opposing teeth.
The prepared tooth is molded by the dentist using impression material (silicone or polyether). This step is one of the most important in the production of dental prostheses, since even the smallest errors can rarely be corrected after the working models have been made.
For an artificial With the help of this impression, the dental technician can then create a model on which he then produces the dentures. Typically, low-expansion hard plasters, mainly “natural plasters”, are used so that the dentures made on them can achieve the highest possible precision.
Among other things, GC Fujirock is one of the best, i.e. most precise and dimensionally stable hard plasters, which is also used in our dental laboratory.
Modern dentures are mainly made from all-ceramic materials such as lithium disilicate, zirconium dioxide or feldspar ceramics. The advantage over metal-ceramic restorations is the good translucency and biocompatibility.
Artificial crowns can be integrated into tooth stumps, but also into dental implants, whereby both screwed and cemented restorations can be used on dental implants.
Dental crowns and bridges are common procedures nowadays, especially with the development of new dental materials and technologies followed with patients’ higher esthetic demands. Sometimes, patients see these prosthodontics at their friends and family and expect the same dental procedures in order to get nicer and more harmonic smile for themselves. It is crucial for patients to understand the types of restorations available on the market, indications, and contraindications for its application, the functional and esthetical properties, so as the price and durability of such restorations.
The most simple way to describe a dental crown is a “cap” that covers prepared tooth or implant. Indications for these restorations are different:
Depending on the individual patient’s situation and specific indication considering over-all dental analysis, different types of crowns may be suggested. When talking about the crowns, it is almost impossible to mention Inlays, Onlays, Overlays and veneers. Named restorations cover the tooth partially, depending on the location and proportions of tooth destruction. On the other hand, veneers are not necessarily indicated to reconstruct the lost dental tissue, but more often, to change the color, size, shape and/or position of frontal teeth.
After detailed anamnesis, clinical examinations and dental analysis first step is tooth preparation. For a vital tooth, local anesthesia is applied prior tooth preparation, while non-vital tooth does not need anesthetics. Preparation is performed with a high-speed handpiece and diamond burs. After the tooth is prepared the next step is taking impressions. Impressions might be analog, taken with a conventional method that includes silicons for the jaw in which the tooth is prepared for the crown, and another impression of the opposite jaw taken by alginate. A contemporary alternative to this method for dental impressions is intraoral scanning. There are numerous companies on the market that has their own equipment for digital dentistry, but the well-known is CEREC.
These scanners have the shape of bigger toothbrush and is able to make the most precise scans of the entire dental arch. Scans can be sent to a dental laboratory or can be connected to in-office milling and grinding units for further fabrication. Thanks to digital dentistry, entire process in the fabrication of a crown can be performed in 15-30 minutes, while the conventional methods might take days for complete restoration to be finished. Whatever method for production is applied, the final restoration is nearly the same. The only difference is the higher precision of digital dentistry. There are many different units for digital dental procedures. In our office, we use very modern Sirona CEREC Ac Bluecam, Sirona Cerec 3 and Sirona inLAB MCXL that provides the entire process of in-office production, from scanning dental arches to planning, fabrication, and cementation. You can read more about our dental laboratory at the following link here.
Read moreThere are a great number of materials that can be used for the crowns. From standard ceramic fused to metal crowns to full ceramics and zirconia. Modern dentistry sets full-ceramic so as zirconia as a golden standard for dental restorations. Zirconia is considered as the material of choice mostly for dental bridges with its great esthetical properties and high flexural strength. In our dental clinic, we use a few different types of zirconia blocs, from the company called DentalDirect. Zirconia is great material for full ceramic crowns but mostly for dental bridges. Another great solution, when talking about single crowns, is IPS e.max, which is lithium disilicate glass-ceramic material, usually indicated for full ceramic crowns, so as for veneers, inlays and onlays. Another type of material that we use for full ceramic crowns, but also for veneers and inlays is VITA Suprinity, a glass-ceramic reinforced with 10% zirconia dioxide that has great optical properties. VITABLOCS Mark II is feldspar ceramic, the most clinically tested one, and TriLuxe blocks, also a feldspar ceramic, with its special multichromatic properties, already integrated into the bloc, so they can imitate the full spectrum of different shades from tooth’s neck to its incisal edge.
Read more
When one or more teeth are missing, there are several options how this deficiency can be resolved. In most cases, the best solution includes implant placement. Other options include prosthodontics, fixed or removable. Fixed prosthodontics are, in fact, dental bridges. Like in real life, this also applies to dental bridges, there should be two “shores” that will hold both sides of a bridge, that will fill the space of missing teeth with new crowns, called pontics. This means that you need to have at least two stable teeth that will be used as the anchors, known as abutment teeth, for the new bridge. Sometimes, in cases where a greater number of teeth is missing, more teeth need to be included as anchors that will hold a dental bridge in a solid, stable place.
Planning dental bridges is a complex procedure that includes detailed clinical examination and analysis of radiographs. This procedure also includes the adequate discussion with patient’s wishes and expectation regarding their future look of the dental arch and more importantly its function.
The procedure for design and production of a dental bridge is very similar to one related to single crown production. A great advantage of modern dentistry is a digital dentistry with special software like Digital Smile Design (DSD) that can create the most harmonic individual smile for each patient.
With analysis conducted with such software, the future prosthodontics solutions can be visible in digital form for the patient and they can make suggestions for every step of the restoration even before the final decision is made. Teeth preparation is the first step in the production of dental bridges when all preparations of surrounding tissues are finished. Impressions of prepared teeth and soft tissues can be taken by conventional dental materials or with digital technologies, in the same manner previously described for single crowns. The same goes for the entire process of production and materials that can be used: ceramic fused to metal, zirconia and pressed ceramics.
It is important to understand that planning of prosthodontics therapy, whether it includes single crowns or more complex solutions that include implants and/or dental bridges, needs detailed analysis with your dentist in order to get a fully functioning and esthetical final result that will last for many years.