Below are links to information pertaining to each service listed. Click on each one to see the associated information.

• Hygiene
• Dentures
• Crowns
• Fillings
• For Children
• For Special Needs Patients
• Pit and Fissure Sealants
• Root Canals
• TMJ Syndrome - Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome
• Veneers

Crowns:

Crowns are necessary when the tooth has lost substantial structure and is in a weakened state. The usual causes of this weakened state are:

• teeth that have large old restorations (fillings) that are breaking down and the outer portion of the tooth is missing a cusp
• teeth that have received root canal treatment
• teeth that are sensitive to biting pressure and have usually become cracked

The other reasons for crowns are for esthetics, and to change the bite to allow for better function. There are several types of crowns: full gold crown, porcelain to gold crown, and full porcelain crown. The advantages to the full gold crown are overall strength and they prevent wear to the opposing teeth. There is an economic advantage to the full metal crown in that there is less lab work necessary to prepare them. The porcelain to metal crown is an esthetic crown where we are able to match the colour of the crown to your teeth. The all porcelain crown is usually reserved for the front teeth where it is critical to match the colour and translucent nature of the teeth.

Old Porcelain to Metal Crowns With Metal Margins		New Porcelain to Metal Crowns With Porcelain Margins

If you can imagine an oak barrel that is made up of staves of wood and metal bands called a ferrule, it is the metal bands that give the barrel it's strength and allows the barrel to withstand compressive loads. A crown is actually a ferrule that prevents the tooth from splitting.

To have crowns fabricated it requires two appointments. The first appointment requires preparation of the tooth by reducing the outer surface by approximately 1.5 mm. A cord is placed around the tooth to displace the gum and then impressions of the prepared arch and of the opposing arch are taken. You will also have a registration of the relationship of your jaw joint to the teeth with a face bow registration. The face bow allows us to mount your case on a chewing machine called an articulator. This allows the lab to fabricate a crown that will fit your bite. You will leave the office with a temporary acrylic crown cemented with a soft cement. On the second appointment the temporary crown is removed and the new lab-fabricated crown will be cemented with a hard permanent cement.

Below are some more examples of different types of crowns:

All Porcelain Crowns		Porcelain to Metal Crowns
Combination Gold Porcelain Crowns		Porcelain to Gold and Full Gold Crowns
Side View of Gold Porcelain Crown		Rear View of Gold Porcelain Crown

DO CROWNS NEED SPECIAL CARE?

Crowns need the same attention to oral hygiene as do natural teeth. You need to brush and floss your crowns daily. Crowns can be dislodged if you eat sticky candies such as toffee. If the crowns are porcelain there is a possibility that the porcelain may fracture if you bite into ridged items such as a fork or cherry pit by accident.