Dr. Katelyn Fenlon is a general dentist at Princess Center Dentistry in Scottsdale Arizona and today she is answering the question, how do dentists crown a tooth?
If your dentist has determined that you have a tooth that needs a dental crown, we’ll get you numb and then we’ll shape the tooth for the crown.
The crown is going to be made by a laboratory technician that works in a lab that does this all day long. They’re gonna make the crown the same shape as your tooth and the
color that you want it to be.
We have to shape the tooth so that the crown can go over the top of it without the tooth looking bulky.
Once we’ve properly shaped the tooth, removed any decay if there’s decay, and removed any cracks if there are cracks in the tooth, we place a filling that serves as the substructure of the crown, called the build up.
Then we’ll use our scanner. We don’t have to do any goopy impressions! We scan the tooth and that sends a digital impression to the lab that will make your crown.
Your dental assistant will make you a temporary crown that you’ll wear for two weeks while the lab is fabricating your custom crown and then you’ll come back in a couple of weeks to have the crown cemented and any adjustments that are necessary made.
10 steps for placing a crown
- Shape the tooth for the crown
- Remove decay
- Remove cracks
- Place a filling for the substructure
- Use the scanner (no impressions needed)
- Send the digital impressions to the lab
- The lab makes your crown
- Your dental assistant makes a temporary crown
- In a couple weeks, have your crown cemented
- Make any adjustments to the crown
Got a question? Ask our dentist, Dr. Fenlon! Or leave it in a comment below.