How Much Amount of Tooth You Will Need for a Crown?

A crown is a permanent and tailored dental restoration. It looks like a tooth-shaped cap the dentist puts over a prepared tooth. It becomes necessary when the tooth has severe damage or when there is not sufficient tooth present to support a dental filling.

Although the dentist needs adequate underlying tooth structure to hold and support the dental crown in its place, it does not necessarily need to be created using real teeth. It means there are other methods available that can help the dental professional create the crown using a less leftover tooth structure. Let us find out how much amount of tooth you need for the cap placement.

How Much Tooth is Required to Place a Dental Crown?

Although crowns fit over the top of affected teeth, they still require a sufficient amount of tooth structure to reinforce them inside out. That is why you must know how many teeth you need for a crown.

In most cases, the dentist tries to leave the maximum tooth possible for dental crowns in West Bloomfield & Taylor, MI. It brings back the original size and shape of the tooth when putting a crown. Remember, in case of insufficient tooth remaining or a big amount of tooth structure has been eliminated, the dental professional fails to add a cap.

In many cases, the dentist puts the cap by reducing some of the structure of the real tooth. So, if a large part of your tooth has decayed or damaged, you may need a few extra steps for the crown placement.

Dental caps restore teeth effectively that the dentist fails to restore using a filling alone. For example, it is mainly in the cases where tooth damage or decay extends over 3/4th of the tooth. Dental crowns are versatile regarding how much tooth is required.

The dentist needs a minimum of 2 mm of tooth structure for placing the dental crown. Thus, if you are healthy enough to support the cap and have one-quarter of the visible tooth portion, you are an ideal candidate for dental restoration. However, if the dentist does not find enough space for the crown placement, he/she may provide other options. These include post-and-core foundation, implant, and composite resin.

Composite resin is a dental material used by dental experts for tooth bonding and composite dental fillings. The dentist applies it in the layers as a soft putty and then hardens a single layer at a time. Once the dentist puts composite resin material to the leftover tooth structure, then he/she adds a crown.

If your tooth structure fails to offer sufficient stability for the dental cap, the dentist suggests post and core is a restoration treatment done after a root canal therapy. The root canal procedure eliminates the damaged tooth pulp. It provides a robust foundation for the dental crown.

It keeps the dental cap in position when a significant part of the tooth structure is eliminated (50%). If the tooth is missing or requires tooth pulling, the dentist puts a dental cap with an implant. Firstly, he/she places an implant in the vacant socket and then screws the metal connector piece to it. This technique is known as the implant-supported crown.

How Does the Crown Placement Process Work?

Firstly, the dentist in West Bloomfield & Taylor, MI uses anesthesia to numb the region. If you need dental sedation, he/she may suggest different levels to you. Now, the expert eliminates the decayed tissue from the tooth. Then, the dentist shapes the remaining tissue so that it can provide support to the dental cap.

However, if the professional finds a pulp infection, he/she performs a root canal treatment before adding the crown. Since the dentist recommends crowns in cases where 3/4th of the tooth is decayed or damaged.

When a Dentist Fails to Crown the Tooth?

There are few cases when the dentist does not recommend crown placement over the affected tooth. It’s mainly in the case of the tooth being heavily decayed or damaged. In these cases, a skilled dental expert recommends other treatments.

Contact the experts at Golnick Pediatric Dental Associates to find out what suits your needs best. You will need a minimum of two visits to the dental office for tooth preparation for crown placement.