Cosmetic Crowns

All-Porcelain Crowns
A tooth-colored crown may be made of both porcelain and metal, or, thanks to newly available technology, it may be made entirely of porcelain.

Metal and Porcelain Crowns
In the past, porcelain crowns were always built upon a metal core. That was the only way they could have enough strength to withstand the tremendous biting forces that are exerted on all of your teeth. That metal core is what creates the dark blue line at the edge of many crowns.

The Benefits of All-Porcelain Crowns
Recent breakthroughs in adhesives, combined with the development of stronger porcelain materials, allow us to make crowns entirely out of porcelain. All-porcelain crowns maintain a translucency that makes them hard to tell from natural teeth. Without metal, the problem of a dark line at the edge of the gums is eliminated. This allows us to place the edge of the crown above the gumline, and that's healthier for your tooth and gums.
When you want to improve your smile, all-porcelain crowns are a beautiful and natural looking choice.

Anterior Porcelain Crowns
It takes two or more appointments to restore a damaged tooth with a porcelain crown. That's because a crown is fabricated in a dental laboratory to precisely fit your tooth.

The First Visit
We want the entire procedure to be comfortable for you, so the first thing we do is make sure your mouth is thoroughly numb. We then use the handpiece to shape the tooth and remove any decay.

To create models of your teeth on which the dental laboratory will fabricate your crown, we must first take impressions of your mouth. Sometimes, to help us take a more accurate impression, we put a small piece of string in the space between the tooth and the gum. This allows us to gently push the gum away from the tooth. After the impressions are complete, we place a temporary crown, which you'll wear for the several weeks that it takes the dental laboratory to fabricate your new crown.

The Second Visit
During your next visit, we remove the temporary crown and place your new crown. We check the fit and your bite. When everything looks good, we cement it in place and you'll have a new porcelain crown.

If you have more questions regarding available Dental Crown options please feel free to call our office at 510-796-1656 or write us at hp_dds@yahoo.com and we'll be glad to provide you more details.