5 Advantages of Choosing Porcelain Dental Crowns

You want to have a healthy, attractive smile to show the world, but genetics, poor dental hygiene, and other factors can affect your smile. Not only can dental issues affect your self-esteem, but they can also impact the opinions of others. Luckily, cosmetic dentistry has come a long way, allowing patients to finally get the smile they want. If you are unhappy with your smile, check out these five advantages of porcelain dental crowns.

1. They Look Like Real Teeth

Dental crowns are made from many materials, such as metal and tooth-colored composite. However, only porcelain dental crowns actually look like real teeth to the naked eye. Our team can help you find the perfect shade of white, and the translucent appearance of porcelain helps give the illusion of real tooth tissue.

Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns are commonly used on back teeth because they are more durable. However, the metal sometimes shows through the porcelain around the base of the tooth, making it a poor choice for front teeth. On front teeth, all-porcelain crowns are typically used. They are less durable, but look great.

2. You Can Get a Smile Makeover

One reason patients love porcelain dental crowns is because it can give you a fast smile makeover because they fix many cosmetic concerns. Not only can they hide stubborn stains, but they can make your teeth look almost flawless by hiding chips, cracks, mild gaps, mild overcrowding, misaligned teeth, etc. They also hide fillings, giving your teeth a more consistent appearance and texture, making them look healthier.

The crowns are also resistant to stains, but if they do dull or become dingy, you can't whiten them with tooth whitening. You'll need to replace them if you become unhappy with the color.

3. They Strengthen Weak Teeth

Many of the issues corrected by dental crowns can also be corrected with veneers, but unlike porcelain veneers, dental crowns strengthen weak teeth. This makes them the better choice if you have lots of fillings from decay, root canal treatments, etc. If you have lots of big fillings, the tooth is more likely to crack or shatter under pressure. By placing a crown over the tooth, however, you remove the weak spots, so the pressure is spread evenly across the surface of the tooth.

4. They Protect Against Bacteria

Dental crowns cover every exposed surface of your teeth, unlike veneers, which only cover the front surface of front teeth. For this reason, they protect your teeth well against bacteria. The crown works better than enamel to prevent plaque and bacteria from destroying teeth.

Your teeth are still exposed at the gum line, so you need to continue cleaning your teeth like normal. In fact, you may need to take better care of your teeth to prevent gum recession, which exposes more tooth root to decay.

5. They May Be Covered by Some Insurance

Porcelain dental crowns are an investment in your smile, so they aren't cheap, but many insurance carriers may pay some of the cost. In fact, an average insurance payment for a dental crown may be about $953. Your insurance will only reimburse some of the cost if the dental crown is necessary to protect or strengthen the tooth.

Having a less-than-perfect smile can affect your self-esteem and keep you from smiling, but thanks to cosmetic dentistry, there are many ways to get a more attractive smile. With porcelain dental crowns, you can get a beautiful, healthy smile you want everyone to see. If you would like more information regarding dental crowns or another cosmetic procedure to improve your smile, contact our friendly staff at P.A. Daniel Jr., D.D.S. Dentistry.