When we talk about “crowns” generally we are referring to porcelain crowns and not to plastic covering crowns or full metal crowns as only porcelain crowns are suitable from an aesthetic and functional perspective with long lasting durability. The classification of porcelain crowns depends on what other materials are used as well as the porcelain.

Normally we make the porcelain fused to metal (cobalt-chrome) crowns. This is a nickel free crown and eliminates the nickel allergy that affects 25 % of women. In normal cases it creates a beautiful aesthetic appearance, but as it has not transparency and translucency, this can not be as natural as the Empress or Zirconium crowns. We recommend it mainly for lateral bridges or round-bridges, but to the front area we always recommend metalfree crowns.

PORCELAIN FUSED TO GOLD. An alternative metal based crown is the golden based porcelain. Gold is the metal that can be most precisely cast and it also has a certain antibacterial effect. That is why it was said to last for a whole life.

The other class of porcelain crowns is the metal free porcelain. The difference is the transparency and translucency, that makes the smile really natural.

Why do I have to get a crown?
When there is not enough own tooth material and tooth gets week the filling or inlay is not sufficiant to restore it so we have to make porcelain crown to cover and keep strongly the tooth on long term. Certainly it can be necessary because of aesthetic reasons if teeth are discoloured, cracked or not straight, and functionally reasons if teeth are worned or stand out of bite. If a tooth is missing we can make bridge to replace the missing tooth if we prepare the neighbouring teeth for crowns and the technician makes a porcelain bridge that contains more crowns on the same base.

What type of crowns can I get?
All crowns covered with porcelain, the difference is only the base. The normal porcelain crowns contains a metal base that is usually cobalt-chrome but can be made from golden too. The metalfree porcelain crowns are contains only pure high strength porcelain (E-max crowns, Empress) or the porcelain can be fused to Zirconium base.

How does crown fit on my tooth?
We fit the porcelain crowns with the strongest dental luting cements. The crowns are not removable restorations, can be removed only with filing them off.

Will the porcelain chip if I chew hard?
Crowns are planned and made for bite and chew so they have to stand the hardest bite. Certainly parafunctions like night grinding, accidents or incorrect use can cause the chipping of crowns.

Will my porcelain crown discolour?
The porcelain material never discolours. Certainly they can also have discolourations and tartar on the surface like natural teeth but those are removable with cleaning and polishing easily.

What is the lifetime of a porcelain crown?
We plan and make porcelain crowns for 10-15 years at least. The front crowns -as they are more visible and the gum slowly receeds- should be replaced usually earlier than back crowns because the aesthetic appearance at the gum line can not be the same forever, but on back teeth if the oral hygiene is good, the crowns and bridges can keep for 20-25 years.

How long does it take to get porcelain crowns?
All type of crowns can be made during 4-5 workdays.

Do I have any temporaries during these some days?
We always make immediate temporaries if teeth are prepared for crowns or bridges, so the patients always leave the surgery with teeth.

Will my gum discolour or inflame because of crowns?
The gum is a very sensitive live tissue on any kind of dental restorations. Our long term experience is that the metalfree restorations usually does not cause any irrittation and the gum will not discolour or inflame. At porcelain fused to metal crowns sometimes we can see a slight gum inflammation because of some metal allergy, but it is not usual as we do not use any nickel in dental metals.