Dental Crowns – Gainesville, GA
An Effective Solution for Restoring Damaged Teeth
Brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and attending your biannual dental checkup and cleaning can do wonders for keeping your teeth in pristine condition. However, despite your best efforts, it’s possible for one or more of your teeth to sustain significant damage or decay. In this case, a simple filling won’t do the trick, which is when our dentist in Gainesville, Dr. Shue Her, will recommend a dental crown. Read on to learn more about this popular restorative treatment or give us a call to speak with our team directly!
What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is a custom-made restoration designed to securely bond on top of an affected tooth. This lifelike “cap” can be crafted from porcelain, zirconia, gold, and metal alloys (to name a few) – it depends on the location of your tooth, your budget, and your personal preference. Once it is in place, the function of your smile will be restored, allowing you to chew pain-free!
What Can Dental Crowns Fix?
Dental crowns in Gainesville are used:
- To fix a broken tooth
- As the final step in root canal therapy
- To restore a severely decayed tooth
- To rebuild a tooth that has been worn down due to teeth grinding
- As the restoration attached to a dental implant post
How Are Dental Crowns Placed?
If you are getting a dental crown to address a damaged tooth, it typically takes two appointments from start to finish. At the first visit, your tooth will be treated, cleaned, and reshaped to ensure the dental crown can fit snugly over top. Once the preparation process is complete, impressions will be taken of your tooth, which is what the lab artisans will use to meticulously shape your permanent crown. Since this process takes a few weeks to complete, you will be given a temporary one to protect your tooth in the meantime. When your final crown is ready, it will be anchored in place with a special bonding agent, ensuring it remains secure for years to come!
How to Care For a Dental Crown
Thanks to its high-quality makeup, dental crowns can last for 20+ years! But you have to care for them properly for them to last. Fortunately, this task is relatively easy since they can be maintained with the same best practices you use to preserve your natural teeth. With this in mind, make sure to stay diligent about brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and visiting our office every six months for a checkup and cleaning. It is also a good idea to avoid cavity-causing foods that can compromise your underlying tooth, like soda and candy. Poor dental habits, like smoking and using your teeth as tools, are also not recommended.
Experiencing oral pain? Want to replace your metal dental crown with a tooth-colored one? Don’t hesitate to contact our office to schedule an appointment!
Understanding the Cost of Dental Crowns
One of the many things you’ll need to think about when getting a dental crown is how much the procedure will cost. Researching prices online won’t be enough to figure out an estimate; there are several variables that can affect the cost, and you’ll need your dentist’s help to identify them. If you have questions or concerns about the price attached to your dental crown, speak to one of our team members. We’re always happy to help ensure you can have important dental work completed at an affordable price.
Factors That Affect the Cost of Dental Crowns
Sometimes you might need to pay for a different treatment before receiving your dental crown. For example, in some cases, crowns are used to restore teeth after a root canal, or they might be attached to dental implants.
Another factor that needs to be considered is the material that the crown is made of. Your restoration can be created using zirconia, porcelain, and various other materials that all come at different costs. (Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the cheapest material is automatically better. A less expensive crown might need to be replaced sooner than a higher-quality restoration.)
Finally, there’s the method of making the crown to consider. Will it come from a lab, or will it be created in our office thanks to CEREC technology? The answer will have an impact on the final price.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Dental Crowns?
Crowns are seen as a medically necessary, major restorative procedure by most dental insurance companies. As such, many dental plans offer around 50% coverage for crowns. Of course, this is assuming that you have met your deductible and have yet to reach your annual maximum.
To confirm the amount of coverage that dental crowns are eligible for under your dental plan, you should talk to your insurance company. If you’d like additional help understanding your insurance policy, reach out to our team. We regularly file claims for a variety of insurance companies, so we’re more than prepared to help you understand the specifics of your plan.
Options for Making Dental Crowns Affordable
For one reason or another, you might not have dental insurance, or the coverage that you do have may not be sufficient. What other ways can you make paying for your dental crown affordable? Here are some options you can take advantage of at our practice:
- Lifetime Club: The Lifetime Club is the in-house savings plan of Lifetime Dental of Gainesville, and it’s an excellent alternative for patients without insurance. For a set annual fee, you get a 10-15% discount on various services. Unlike insurance, there are no claims to file, and there’s no yearly maximum.
- Financing: You may be familiar with CareCredit, a third-party financing company that specializes in helping people pay for all kinds of healthcare expenses, including dental work. A CareCredit plan will let you cover the cost of treatment with a number of monthly payments instead of a single lump sum.
Dental Crown FAQs
Have you been told that you’re in need of a dental crown? You may still have some unanswered questions, so we’re here to help! Here are the answers to some of the most common questions we receive about dental crowns in Gainesville. If you don’t see the information that you’re looking for below, give us a call. We’d be happy to walk you through the procedure so you can feel prepared when your appointment rolls around.
Are Dental Crowns Permanent?
Dental crowns are not permanent, but they are a long-term solution. On average, they can protect your tooth for anywhere from 5 to 15 years. When your dentist reshaped your tooth for a crown, that procedure is irreversible. This is because the tooth enamel cannot grow back after it has been lost, so that tooth will always need a crown for protection moving forward. That being said, crowns protect your tooth from additional damage, so it helps it to survive for much longer than it likely would have otherwise.
Do Dental Crowns Get Cavities?
Technically, it’s impossible for a crown itself to develop cavities, but the tooth underneath it still can. In fact, a crown tooth has about the same risk of decay as an uncrowned tooth. Poor oral hygiene makes it possible for bacteria and plaque to form around the gumline where the tooth meets the crown. They can then travel underneath the crown and wreak havoc on the underlying tooth.
Does It Hurt to Get a Dental Crown?
Just like when you get a filling, your mouth will be numbed with a local anesthetic. While you shouldn’t feel any discomfort during the procedure itself, you may experience some soreness for a few days afterward, especially if you have also undergone a root canal. This is temporary and can be managed with over-the-counter pain relievers. If discomfort persists or worsens, give us a call.
Do Dental Crowns Feel Natural?
Within a few days of receiving your permanent crown, it should start to feel increasingly natural. Crowns are made from durable materials that can stand up to everyday chewing forces just as easily as tooth enamel, so eating with your crown shouldn’t feel strange. The reason your dentist reshaped your tooth and took impressions was to ensure the crown fits comfortably within your mouth. Ultimately, your dental crown shouldn’t feel awkward or even noticeable.