Restoring and Protecting Your Natural Teeth for a Lifetime

It’s amazing how far technology has come in recent decades, improving everything from small details in our everyday lives to helping medical professionals provide their patients with better care. Modern dentistry is no exception! Advanced technology and improved materials help dentists give you the best care possible every time you step into our office. Even when your teeth have suffered severe damage from injury or decay, treatments like dental crowns can restore their function and protect their future health—all while restoring their appearance so well that no one will even know they’re there. In fact, dental crowns are so good at their job of restoring teeth that they often play a major role in saving teeth that might otherwise be lost. Despite this, you may not know much about dental crowns. What are their true benefits and how much does a dental crown cost? To help you determine the true value of a dental crown and whether or not it’s worth it for you, we’ve broken down how this restorative procedure can benefit you.

Dental crowns preserve and protect your natural tooth.

When it comes right down to it, there’s nothing quite like your natural teeth. From their cusps, or chewing surfaces, right down to their roots, your teeth are perfectly designed to do their job. While modern dentistry has some amazing tooth replacement options, it’s always best for your short- and long-term oral health to keep as many of your natural teeth as possible. Dental crowns help you do just that, restoring and protecting the long-term health of your teeth. But what is a dental crown?

Dental crowns are tooth-shaped pieces of porcelain that are custom-made for you and secured permanently over your natural tooth. This allows the crown to act as a shield on your tooth, protecting against decay caused by oral bacteria and guarding against future injury. The shape of the crown, which is custom-made for you, also allows it to restore the function and appearance of your tooth, so you can continue using it just like you used to. Crowns are so effective at restoring damaged teeth that they can even save teeth that would otherwise need to be removed. For instance, crowns can restore teeth that have suffered decay too extreme to be restored by a simple filling, hold the fractured pieces of a tooth together, or repair a broken tooth. A dental crown allows your tooth to function normally and plays a role in ensuring that your tooth is able to last you a lifetime—just like it’s meant to!

They prevent bone loss in your jaw.

Your tooth roots stimulate your jaw bone, telling it to keep growing and repairing itself. Losing a tooth causes a loss of that stimulation, so your body begins to reabsorb the bone in that section of your jaw, and this can cause a sunken-in appearance to your face. By saving your natural teeth, dental crowns also protect your jaw from this bone loss, keeping it strong and healthy for years to come.

Dental crowns resolve pain from tooth decay or injury.

If you’ve ever had a toothache, you know just how painful they can be! Dental crowns are often an essential part of resolving two common causes of tooth pain: severe cavities and dental injuries. When you have a severe cavity, your dentist will need to treat it before placing a dental crown over it to restore your tooth and protect it from further damage. Crowns also restore and protect teeth that have suffered an extensive dental injury such as a broken tooth. If you’re suffering from a toothache from either of these causes, receiving treatment and a dental crown can make a huge difference to your daily life. Not only will you be able to chew normally, but you’ll be able to do so pain-free!

They protect the pulp of your tooth from infection.

When you have a severe cavity, your dentist may recommend a dental crown instead of a dental filling. This is simply because dental crowns provide better long-term protection for teeth that have experienced larger, more serious areas of decay. Crowns extend down to your gum line and form a seal around the entirety of your tooth, preventing bacteria from making their way into the pulp at its center. You’ll still need to practice great oral hygiene to help your crown do its job well, but the way it fits onto your tooth protects your tooth pulp from infection and helps keep your tooth healthy in the long-term.

Dental crowns vary in cost.

You may still find yourself asking, “But how much is a dental crown?” The truth is, that’s a surprisingly complicated question! Factors like which tooth you need to be fitted with a dental crown and how much your insurance is likely to cover will impact the cost of your crown, so it’s hard to pin down a general cost. The best way to get an accurate estimate of how much your dental crown procedure will cost is to schedule a consultation at our office. Your dentist will be able to evaluate your tooth and tell you how much the procedure is likely to cost, including an estimate for what portion of it your insurance should cover.

When you’re considering the cost of your dental crown, it’s important to keep in mind the value that it offers. If you care for it with great oral hygiene, a dental crown should last 15 years or more. During that time, it’ll help keep your tooth healthy and pain-free while maintaining its function and appearance.

Restorative dentistry has come a long way, but there’s still nothing better for your oral health or more capable of fulfilling your teeth’s many jobs than your own natural teeth. At the end of the day, the goal of dental crowns is to protect your natural teeth and ensure that they last you a lifetime. If you’d like to learn more about how a dental crown could benefit you or how much your dental crown procedure is likely to cost, feel free to call our office and schedule a consultation at any time.