Fabrication and insertion of a crown
In principle, every tooth can be crowned. It only has to be sufficiently firmly anchored in the jawbone, the root and root tip must be healthy and the gums must be in good condition. Whether a tooth can be crowned is sufficiently examined before.
The patient is now spoilt for choice as to which type of crown to choose. Decisive factors are of course the services covered by the health insurance, the aesthetics, the area where the crown is to be placed, what you want to pay for yourself and what you consider to be appropriate. The basic treatment is a full cast crown, which is cast completely from metal.
Without a veneer, it is mostly used in the posterior region, where the metal is less visible. As an alternative, a crown can also be made, which is completely made of ceramic and can also be used in the anterior region due to its good aesthetic properties. It is usually difficult to distinguish good all-ceramics from a natural tooth.
However, it is still possible to cast a metal crown and then veneer it with ceramics to improve its appearance. However, the best result is discussed in detail with the patient and the individual tooth color is determined. Then the tooth is prepared for the respective crown.
This means that it is ground with different grinding tools in such a way that a crown can be placed. The ground tooth is like a miniature version of the previous tooth. After taking an impression, the dental technician then prepares the crown in the laboratory and places it in the next step.
The crown must have a good marginal fit, must not be too high, must have good contact with the neighboring teeth, must fit snugly on the stump, be neat in terms of material processing and allow good static and dynamic occlusion. The accuracy of fit at the crown margin, i.e. the transition between the artificial crown and the tooth, is particularly important, since an inaccurate fit can quickly lead to gingivitis and caries under the crown, which causes pain. Once all this has been ensured, the crown is definitely fitted (fixed). More general information about dental crowns can be found in our main article: dental crown.
