dental prostheses
Dental prostheses can be fixed or removable. Their purpose is to reconstruct, strengthen or complete a tooth following a carious disease or fracture. Some dentures can replace a tooth.
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1/ Dental crown
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2/ Inlay / Onlay
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3/ Dental veneer
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4/ Dental bridge
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5/ Removable dental prosthesis
Tooth crown
A crown is a prosthetic piece that totally covers the tooth alive or devitalized following a very important deterioration (caries or fracture) and that it no longer has enough dental structure natural sound to support a composite resin or an Inlay/Onlay (ceramic partial restoration).
There are several types: metallic, ceramic-metal and ceramic-ceramic. Their indications will be based on the location and the expected aesthetic result.
The metal-ceramic crown, as its name suggests, is made up of: an alloy of metals (component of the inside of the crown) and a dental ceramic (on the outside). The alloy serves as a base (metal skeleton) to support the ceramic that will cover it.
However, it will tend to appear more opaque than normal teeth.
The all-ceramic crown is a crown made entirely of ceramic, which gives it light transmission characteristics approaching natural dentition.
This type of crown will also have a better adaptation to the periodontium (gum).
Very often, a crown is made on a devitalized tooth. In some cases, an additional anchor called post, pivot or inlay-core is added in the root of the tooth for better stability of the crown.
The crown will come above this anchor.
How is a crown placed?
Two sessions are required:
1/ Preparation of the tooth (or teeth) that will receive the crown: under local anesthesia, the tooth is prepared using a bur. Then, an imprint of the tooth is taken, before closing the tooth with a temporary resin crown.
A dental technician will custom make the dental crown (based on the impression of the teeth, photos taken, and the shade of the patient’s teeth).
2/ Laying the crown using sealing cement. And finally the last adjustments of the occlusion so that the tooth is perfectly adapted to its neighbors during chewing.
