Procelain Dental Crowns

Porcelain Crowns Types of Dental Crowns Dentist Highlands Ranch

Highlands Ranch dentists, Dr. H. Candace DeLapp and Dr. James DeLapp provide general dental services to their dental patients in Ken Caryl, Parker, Denver, Castle Pines, Lone Tree and Douglas County. Dental crowns are a common dental procedure and we hope this information helps you to understand this procedure.

Dental crowns can be made from metal (gold or metal alloy’s) or ceramic substrates (porcelain).  Depending upon your occlusion or individual needs, our Highlands Ranch Dentist will work with you in deciding which is best for you. Each material has its positives and negatives and we will decide together which will work best for you. As a general rule, metal substrates  are used with powerful bites while porcelain works best with less powerful occlusions.

Metal Dental Crowns Dentist Highlands Ranch

Metallic crowns (gold or silver colored)  makes them a poor choice for the esthetic zone in your mouth. However, metallic dental crowns work well in the posterior area where esthestic in not much of a concern.. These dental crowns are exceedingly durable a more of your tooth structure can be preserved as compared to porcelain crowns. Metal crowns may consist of various materials including gold, platinum palladium, nickle or similar such metals.

All Ceramic Dental Crowns (Porcelain) Dentist Highlands Ranch

When we discuss all  ceramic crowns we include those crowns made of porcelain, resins, or other dental ceramic materials. Natural-looking appearance is the advantage of these types of materials and are typically used from the premolars forward. The tooth-colored porcelain or ceramic material can be made to duplicate the opaque and translucent areas of yournatural teeth. The downside of this is that ceramic materials are more brittle and do  not function in some patients as well as metal on posterior teeth. Dental patients who clench and grind “may not” be candidates for all porcelain crowns on posterior teeth.

Porcelain Fused to Metal Crowns PFM)

Porcelain fused to metal crowns (PFM)  “may” be more durable and less likely to fracture under heavy occlusal loads than all-ceramic crowns. The underlying metal substructure can give PFM’s a less lifelike appearance.  This is due to the opaquing porcelain that is needed to block out the metal substructure before the more esthetic porcelain is applied as a veneeer. Another downside may be that in time… a thin metal edge of the restoration may be visible along the gum line.

Our Highlands Ranch dentist, Dr. James DeLapp and Dr. H. Candace DeLapp provide dental crowns on patient living in Denver, Parker, Douglas County, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, and Ken Caryl.  They can be reached at (303) 694-9740.