When do I need a dental crown?

Adental crown may be needed to prevent tooth collapse or to bring together cracked teeth. The dental crown is a long-lasting restoration for a tooth that requires full coverage protection due to decay or in danger of being damaged or broken: it covers the entire tooth. It can be made of various materials, including porcelain, which has the most natural appearance in the mouth.

Some porcelain crowns rely on metal construction for strength to provide tooth protection. In particular, they are called porcelain fused to metal or PFM crowns. The PFM crowns are widely used in dentistry and have a metal shell on which porcelain is put together in an oven. They are cheap and robust material for tooth decay and cracks. However, one of the most common problems with porcelain fused to metal crowns is that they show metal around the crown's edges like the picture below.

The patient in the before-after pictures had old porcelain fused to metal crowns on her front teeth. A cosmetic approach replacing her restorations created beautiful results that mimic a natural tooth's vitality, eliminating the gum line's dark edge. In recognition of his artistic expertise, Dr. Shimizu was awarded by the AACD for this case.

With today's technology, it's now possible to have metal strength in a more natural and undetectable all-porcelain metal-free crown. Porcelain crowns are virtually undetectable among your natural teeth. We offer beauty, function, and reliability for superior results using the only state of the art materials and laboratories.