Houston Porcelain Crowns

Traditionally, porcelain dental crowns required a metal framework to give the crown adequate strength. But with modern advances in bonding technology, dental crowns can be made of all-porcelain.

Porcelain is a beautiful restoration material because it reflects light just like your natural teeth do. It is excellent in mimicking the translucency and gloss of your natural tooth. In fact, an all-porcelain crown created by an expert cosmetic dentist like Dr. Coleman will blend in perfectly and look identical to the surrounding teeth.

A Comparison of All-Porcelain to Porcelain Fused-to-Metal Crowns

Porcelain crowns offer many benefits:

• Porcelain reflects light just like your tooth enamel. It is a beautiful way to restore a tooth.  When metal is used, the porcelain is baked on to the metal. This action results in an opaque-looking layer so it tends to look fake.
• It is almost inevitable that a thin black line will form along the gumline when metal is used. Dentists can make an effort to conceal the metal below the gum, but there is no way to guarantee that it will remain hidden. When all-porcelain is used, it is bonded directly to the tooth so there is no risk of a black line appearing.
• Traditionally, porcelain crowns haven’t been as strong as porcelain-fused-to-metal. But with newer materials and new technology, they have become strong enough to be used on back teeth.
• All-porcelain crowns require additional training beyond dental school in order to learn how to use the advanced bonding technology. Dr. Coleman is confident in his abilities in using these advanced techniques. Some dentists just feel more comfortable with the basic porcelain-fused-to-metal techniques they learned in dental school.
• The cost is less for porcelain-fused-to-metal. But if the appearance of your crown is an important factor to you, it will be well worth it for the confidence and quality of life it provides.

You can see an example of how these two types of crowns differ in appearance in the images.

Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns are opaque in color. The thin black line is visible near the gumline.

All-porcelain is much more aesthetically-pleasing. It blends in perfectly with the surrounding teeth.

Crown in a Day!

Typically it takes two visits for a crown to be placed. In the first visit, the tooth is prepared and an impression is taken so the lab can create a permanent crown. In the weeks while you wait, you are required to wear a temporary crown. Then, during the second appointment, the crown is permanently bonded.

Dr. Coleman offers CEREC crowns which can be completed in only one appointment. The computer technology manufactures the crown on-site, the same day. You don’t have to leave with an uncomfortable temporary crown and you don’t have to schedule a follow-up visit because it is ready to go during the same visit. Click on our CEREC crowns page to learn more information about this time-saving treatment.