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| A crown fits over the entire top of the tooth above the gum line. Crowns cover, protect, seal and strengthen a tooth. A crown is needed when a filling just will not work. A crown may be made of gold, white porcelain, or porcelain fused to gold. There are many situations that may call for a crown:
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| Large
decay. If a tooth has decay so deep and large that a filling will
not stay, or if the tooth structure is weakened, a crown must be
placed on the tooth to save it. |
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| Large
old fillings. When large old fillings break down, or get decay around
them, they usually need to be crowned. It is important to crown
a tooth that has been structurally weakened to prevent a cracked
or broken tooth. Once a tooth breaks, it may not be possible to
save it. |
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Cracked
tooth. When a tooth is cracked, a filling will not seal the crack.
A crown has to be placed over the tooth to hold it and the crack
together. If a crown is not placed on the tooth, the tooth will
become sensitive to chewing pressure, or will eventually break.
It is important to crown a cracked tooth before it breaks, because
in some cases a broken tooth cannot be crowned and must be extracted.
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| Broken
/ Fractured tooth. A tooth that has broken is usually too weak to
hold a filling. A crown will hold the tooth together and prevent
it from breaking again. If the fracture involves the nerve, Root
Canal Therapy may be required before the tooth is crowned. In some
cases, a broken tooth cannot be saved and must be extracted. |
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| Before:
This tooth has a large filling as shown. A crown is needed on this
tooth, instead of a veneer, because there isn't enough natural tooth
left to support a veneer. A crown will cover and protect the tooth,
but will look the same as a veneer. |
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| After:
The top teeth now have veneers, except the one that had the large
filling, which now has a crown. |
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