Which Dental Crown Is Best for You?
If you're facing the need for a dental crown to prevent tooth collapse or repair cracked teeth, it's essential to consider your options. While various materials are available for dental crowns, porcelain crowns, crafted from a specific dental ceramic, deliver the most natural appearance and performance while offering significant value.
Some porcelain crowns enhance their strength with a metal framework, known as porcelain fused to metal (PFM) crowns. PFM crowns are commonly used in dentistry and consist of a metal shell covered with porcelain. They are cost-effective and durable solutions for addressing tooth decay and cracks. However, it's important to note that one common issue with PFM crowns is the visible metal edge around the crown, as seen in the image below.
In the before-and-after photos, you can see a patient who had old porcelain fused to metal crowns on her front teeth. By taking a cosmetic approach to replace these restorations, we achieved beautiful results that closely resemble the natural vitality of a tooth, eliminating the dark edge along the gum line. Dr. Shimizu received an award from AACD for successfully addressing and fixing a dark gumline issue, showcasing his exceptional artistic expertise.
With today's technology, it's possible to have structural 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 only state-of-the-art materials and laboratories.
List of crown types:
Gold Crowns
Gold crowns are highly durable and robust and are therefore widely used in the restoration of posterior teeth.
Gold dental crowns are recommended for patients who have a habit of chewing hard foods along with clenching and grinding.
Porcelain crowns
Porcelain crowns are the most commonly used type of crown due to their natural appearance and metal-free construction.
The difference in how they are made results in their naming; the ceramic crown contains a mixture of porcelain and other non-metal material, and the porcelain crown has only dental porcelain.
Porcelain fused to metal/PFM crowns
Porcelain fused to metal crowns is cheaper, and they look like natural teeth, but the metallic composition of the crown's underside may cause gray gum lines. Since porcelain is baked into metal basel, the porcelain will come off or chip.
Zirconia crowns
Zirconia crowns are made of zirconium dioxide, which is more rigid and robust than porcelain and has excellent aesthetics and strength. The zirconia crown can only be carved with CAD/CAM-supported milling machines.
E-max crowns
Emax crowns are made from lithium disilicate ceramic, hold similar durability, appearance, and price to zirconia crowns. The E-max crowns are more expensive than the zirconia crowns.
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About
Dr. Shimizu is an accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. There are 419 dental professionals worldwide (Only four in Houston) as of 2022 who have achieved this prestigious honor.