Good Teeth: They Don't Have to Be in Your Genes

If you have recently had a root canal treatment or if your tooth has cracked along the top edge, then your dentist may suggest the placement of a crown on your tooth. While most crowns are porcelain or ceramic varieties that look like your natural teeth, sometimes a metal crown is optimal to fix your smile. Metal crowns also have some advantages over porcelain types. Keep reading to learn about the benefits.

Metal Crowns May Be Cheaper

There are a wide variety of different metals that may be used to create an all-metal crown. These metals fall into three categories; high noble, noble, and non-noble. High noble crowns are made from a high content of precious metals like gold, palladium, and platinum. All three of these metals are expensive and make up more than half of the dental crown. Silver and copper are mixed into the metals, and the resulting crown may be more expensive than a porcelain one. Noble crowns contain some of the expensive metal material, but not nearly as much as high noble varieties. These crowns may be about the same price as porcelain crowns.

Non-noble crowns are typically less expensive than high noble and noble varieties, and they are cheaper than porcelain crowns as well. Non-noble crowns are typically silver in appearance and contain a mixture of cobalt, nickel, and chromium. Some trace metals like tungsten, iron, and niobium may be held in the non-noble prosthetics too. The cost of a single dental restoration may be extremely important to you if you have a tight budget that you must follow. If a large molar needs to be covered, then there may be quite a bit of difference in cost between a chromium and a gold crown.

Thin Metal Crowns Can Be Constructed

Many dentists will like to use conservative measurements to save as much of the original tooth material as possible. In general, crowns are used to restore the biting edge of a tooth so the tooth does not need to be completely extracted. Your dentist will only remove as much of the natural tooth material as is necessary. However, teeth need to be prepared for the placement of crowns, and this includes grinding away a large portion of the dental enamel. 

All-metal dental crowns have the benefit of retaining a great deal of strength even when they are created thin. This means that less of the enamel needs to be removed from the tooth if a metal crown is being secured. Porcelain crowns need to be created much thicker than basic metal ones. Not only can this save the existing tooth enamel, but it can assist with the restoration of teeth when only a small bit of tooth is left on one part of the tooth. 

For more information about dental crowns, speak to a dentist like those at Pine Lake Dental Group.