THE GOLD STANDARD

THE GOLD STANDARD

In today’s world most people do not want to see yellow or white gold in their mouth.  They want to see something tooth colored.  For the past century many dentists have taken a substructure of gold and covered it with porcelain to make a “semi-natural” looking tooth.

Today, there are 3 types of porcelain crowns that are as good as or better than the original porcelain fused to gold crown. 

·         Hands down most beautiful types of cosmetic crowns are made from all porcelain materials which are fabricated from 100% porcelain or Lucite glass.

·         For chewing strength, the method of fusing porcelain to a ceramic core is now preferred.  The porcelain is supported by a sub-structure of ceramic instead of gold.  This very hard tooth colored ceramic core material is fabricated from alumina, lithium or zirconia and tooth colored porcelain is baked on top of this core.

·         The newest material used for a crown is made from 100% zirconia, yes a synthetic diamond!  This type of crown requires fabrication by a computer.  The tooth is scanned and mapped.  These specific design instructions are then electronically sent to a computerized milling machine.  A solid ingot of zirconia is then cut to the exact specifications of your tooth, resulting in a very hard “virtually unbreakable” crown.  This tooth colored crown is more specific for back teeth because it is not as cosmetically appealing for front teeth as the other types of ceramic crowns.

But this is a great marriage between what patients want… “looks like a tooth!” and what dentists want… “it is difficult to break!”  These types of crown are becoming the new “gold standard”!!!

THE GOLD STANDARD

In today’s world most people do not want to see yellow or white gold in their mouth.  They want to see something tooth colored.  For the past century many dentists have taken a substructure of gold and covered it with porcelain to make a “semi-natural” looking tooth.

Today, there are 3 types of porcelain crowns that are as good as or better than the original porcelain fused to gold crown. 

·         Hands down most beautiful types of cosmetic crowns are made from all porcelain materials which are fabricated from 100% porcelain or Lucite glass.

·         For chewing strength, the method of fusing porcelain to a ceramic core is now preferred.  The porcelain is supported by a sub-structure of ceramic instead of gold.  This very hard tooth colored ceramic core material is fabricated from alumina, lithium or zirconia and tooth colored porcelain is baked on top of this core.

·         The newest material used for a crown is made from 100% zirconia, yes a synthetic diamond!  This type of crown requires fabrication by a computer.  The tooth is scanned and mapped.  These specific design instructions are then electronically sent to a computerized milling machine.  A solid ingot of zirconia is then cut to the exact specifications of your tooth, resulting in a very hard “virtually unbreakable” crown.  This tooth colored crown is more specific for back teeth because it is not as cosmetically appealing for front teeth as the other types of ceramic crowns.

But this is a great marriage between what patients want… “looks like a tooth!” and what dentists want… “it is difficult to break!”  These types of crown are becoming the new “gold standard”!!!

As always, remember to always swish, floss, brush and swish again and continue to see your dentist at least every six months or as often as your dentist prescribes. 

Please visit my website, roberthwaldmandds.com, and you will find many helpful videos which will explain many dental treatments.

:)Dr. Rob