How to place a crown on a tooth: a detailed overview of all stages of treatment

A crown is the name in dentistry for a prosthesis that is placed on a tooth, on an implanted implant, or included in the structure of a dental bridge. With the help of dental crowns, you can restore severely damaged or lost teeth, the restoration of which must be carried out urgently and for this you must contact a dentist.

How the crown will be installed, whether it hurts to put a crown on a tooth - we will answer all these questions in detail in our article.

When is it necessary to put a crown on a tooth: indications for restoring teeth with a crown

The need to place a crown on a tooth may arise in the following situations:

• The tooth is severely damaged by caries. If the natural crown of a tooth is damaged by more than 50% by caries, then it would be more correct to put a crown on the tooth rather than restore it with a filling. Large fillings do not withstand the chewing load well and may fall out or break, and the tooth may break along with the filling. If the root of the tooth is damaged, then it will have to be removed. By placing a crown on a decayed tooth, you have the opportunity to save it;

• The tooth is destroyed as a result of trauma. If the roots of a tooth were not affected by injury, it is possible to restore the tooth - it will be enough to put a crown on it;

• You can also put a crown on a tooth for aesthetic restoration: for example, if a tooth is chipped or its enamel has changed color, becoming gray or yellow, and this defect cannot be eliminated by classic whitening.

Doctors recommend placing temporary crowns to preserve teeth for patients with periodontitis. In this case, crowns prevent teeth from becoming loose and falling out.

In your case, do you need to put a crown on your tooth or is it possible to use another restoration method? The doctors of our dental clinic in Moscow, “Firadent,” can help you find the answer to this question. To make an appointment with our specialists, you just need to dial our dental clinic’s phone number!

I need to put a crown on a tooth: is the treatment painful?

Statistics show that most people, knowing that they need to put a crown on a tooth, still postpone their treatment for fear of visiting the dentist and the pain that supposedly cannot be avoided with dental prosthetics. Does it really hurt to put a crown on a tooth? Let's look at this issue together.

So is it painful to put a crown on a tooth or not? The most painful stage in the process of installing a crown on a tooth will be the preparation, during which the teeth are treated for caries, depulped (if necessary), and also ground down to the thickness of the future crown. All these procedures are not performed without anesthesia, as they can cause quite severe pain to the person.

Before you begin to treat and prepare the tooth for placing a crown on it, the doctor will definitely perform an anesthesia procedure using a local anesthetic. The type and amount of the drug are selected individually for each patient. The use of anesthesia makes the process of preparing the tooth for crown installation painless.

If the patient experiences a literally panicky fear of dentists, in our dental clinic “Firadent” he may be offered dental treatment in his sleep[/anchor], under sedation. Sedation should not be confused with general anesthesia; it is a light medicated sleep in which the patient will remain during treatment. Sedation allows you to relieve the patient not only from pain when preparing teeth for prosthetics, but also from psychological discomfort and stress! Moreover, after sedation there are no negative side effects, which are not uncommon after general anesthesia.

You can read all the details on dental treatment during sleep in a separate article on our website, which is devoted to sedation, or find out during a consultation with the doctors of our clinic - “Firadent”.

Reviews

Elena, 29 years old

After building up two front incisors, one of them fell off completely, and only half remained on the other. Now I’m wondering whether to put crowns on them, or is it better to have them built up again by another specialist?

Egor, 45 years old

I was very worried after attaching the crowns with permanent cement. I had already put crowns on myself twice before and the doctor always pressed hard on the prosthesis when putting it on, and the last time he just held it. I panicked that it would quickly disappear. I asked another specialist - he explained that after putting the prosthesis on the cement, I treat it with a special lamp, which leads to hardening, so strong pressure is not required. I've been wearing crowns for over a month now. Everything suits me.

Anton, 32 years old

Placed zirconium crowns on 3 front incisors. I spent a lot. But a week later one of them fell out. I went to the doctor, he said that there was temporary cement and installed it again. Then, one by one, with an interval of two days, the remaining two crowns fell out. Again I went to the doctor twice and twice he changed the temporary cement, which is not permanent. I can’t understand why he couldn’t immediately attach all three to me with permanent cement when I came in for the first time? And what’s also annoying is that after the crowns were re-installed, biting on these teeth became somehow not so much painful, but rather scary. And this fear still does not go away.

Polina, 31 years old

After installing the crown, I feel that it is bothering me and does not connect to the opposite tooth properly. And my gums still hurt a little. Although during the fitting everything was fine. What to do in such a situation? Will I have to remove the prosthesis?

Initial examination and diagnosis

The decision that a crown needs to be placed on a tooth is made by an orthopedic dentist after examining the patient’s oral cavity and teeth, as well as performing a number of diagnostic measures. Based on the data obtained, the orthopedist will develop a treatment plan, which may include not only the installation procedure itself, but also a number of additional measures:

• Professional oral hygiene, which allows you to clean your teeth from plaque and tartar;
• Removal of severely damaged teeth that cannot be properly treated and restored with a filling;
• Treatment of caries and any other diseases of the teeth and gums diagnosed during examination;
• Tooth removal, treatment and filling of canals.

Note that depulping a tooth before placing a crown on it is not always done. The depulpation procedure involves removing the dental nerve, after which the tooth becomes more fragile and vulnerable to external factors. If a tooth has more than one root and is in good condition, doctors prefer not to remove the dental nerve and put a crown on a living tooth.

When drawing up a treatment plan, the question of what kind of crown will be placed on the tooth is also decided. Modern dental crowns are made from different materials and there is always the opportunity to choose the version of the prosthesis that will most suit the patient in terms of aesthetics, price and durability.

The drawn up treatment plan is agreed with the patient and after agreement the treatment process begins. The first step is to prepare the tooth for the installation of a crown.

Before visiting an orthopedic dentist

• Do not be nervous.
• Before taking (an hour), eat a hearty meal (the process of digesting food reduces strong emotional arousal).
• Try to plan your first visit to an orthopedic dentist for the first half of the day while it is light (only natural light allows you to accurately determine the color of your teeth), before the doctor is tired (we are all human, and in the first half of the day the doctor will pay you more attention and time than in the evening), while you not tired (the patient’s understanding of the process and all stages of treatment is very important).
• Collect all the photographs of your teeth that were taken before (regardless of the statute of limitations), this is often necessary.
• If you have old dental crowns or dentures, you should also take them with you.

Preparing to install a dental crown

Preparing for a dental crown may include the following procedures:

1. Professional teeth cleaning. Removing tartar and plaque from the surfaces of teeth will help you accurately select the color of the future crown, as well as identify primary caries and other diseases that are important to cure before placing a crown on the tooth.

1. Treatment of caries, pulpitis, periodontitis, and gum inflammation. You can’t put a crown on sick teeth!

1. Treatment of the tooth on which a crown will be placed. During this process, the doctor will drill out the tooth and remove all tissue affected by caries. If necessary, tooth depulpation is carried out, as well as treatment and filling of dental canals.

IMPORTANT: Dental canal treatment must be of high quality! If during the treatment of the canals the doctor makes a mistake, does not remove all the tissues affected by inflammation, or fills the canals incorrectly, the tooth may begin to hurt already under the crown, and then it will have to be removed and treated again! In our dental clinic “Firadent” in Moscow, treatment of tooth canals is carried out under a microscope with an optical device, which allows the doctor not to act at random, but to accurately see the length and internal space of the dental canals, and therefore carry out the procedure with impeccable quality.

After filling the canals, the tooth is restored with a filling and the next stage in prosthetics begins - turning the tooth under a crown.

After prosthetics

• Before prosthetics, finally check the color and shape of the dental crowns in natural light. It’s better to go out into the hall and look in a regular mirror.
• Once fixed, it will be impossible to change the color.
• After fixing the crowns, try to spend some time in the clinic (for example, in the lobby), once again checking the structures in a more relaxed atmosphere.
• Ask your doctor about hygiene and special care practices.
• Ask for the doctor’s contact number (if necessary, ask questions by phone).
• Make an appointment with your doctor in 7 days for a follow-up examination, regardless of the condition of the crowns.
• Professional control is required after 7 days.
• If you experience any problems with your crowns, contact your dentist immediately.

Grinding a tooth for a crown

Before placing a crown on a tooth, the tooth must be ground to the thickness of the future prosthesis. This procedure in professional dentistry is called “preparation”. The enamel of the tooth is ground down with a drill and during the treatment the doctor will give the tooth a shape that will allow the crown to be placed firmly and tightly.

IMPORTANT: Grinding of live teeth can be quite painful, so local anesthesia must be administered before performing this procedure. If the tooth was depulped before grinding, local anesthesia may not be used, the procedure will not cause pain.

When preparing teeth, a layer of tissue is removed from the tooth before placing a crown. The thickness of the layer will depend on how thick the crown will be. A minimal layer of tissue is removed from the teeth for cast crowns; a significant layer of tissue must be removed from the tooth if it is decided to install ceramic or metal-ceramic crowns. On average, during the grinding process, about 2.5 mm of tissue is removed from a tooth on each side.

As a result of tooth preparation, a core base (stump) is obtained, on which the doctor will place a crown.

Cost of services

If treatment is started on the day of treatment, consultation and treatment plan are free

Making crowns

Crowns are made from an impression that is taken from the prepared teeth. To obtain this impression, the orthodontist will use a special plastic mass. Based on the impression taken, the laboratory will first make a plaster model of the prosthesis, and then a crown, which will be placed on the tooth.

Modern dental crowns are made from different materials: metal, ceramic, metal-ceramic and zirconium. The timing of the production of the prosthesis will depend on what kind of crown it is decided to place on the tooth. Crowns made of ceramics and metal-ceramics take the longest to produce. So that a person does not have to walk without a tooth during the entire time of making the crowns, a temporary plastic prosthesis is put on the tooth.

IMPORTANT: Temporary plastic crowns help hide a defect in the dentition; a person will not have to be embarrassed by the absence of a tooth and experience stress for this reason. Also, temporary dentures help protect a ground and therefore weakened tooth from the negative effects of environmental factors and bacteria.

Try-on, temporary and permanent fixation of the crown

Before placing a crown on a tooth, it must be tried on. For this purpose, the patient is invited to the clinic. During the fitting, the accuracy of the crown's manufacturing and the tightness of its fit on the stump base are assessed. If the fitting does not reveal manufacturing inaccuracies, the patient does not feel discomfort and is satisfied with the aesthetics of the finished product - a temporary fixation of the crown is performed on the tooth.

What is temporary fixation? This is a kind of “test drive” of the crown. With a crown placed on a temporary basis, the patient will walk for a certain period of time (usually up to 4 weeks). If during this time no defects or inaccuracies are identified in the manufacture of the crowns, the patient comes to the clinic and the crown is placed and fixed with permanent dental cement.

At this point, the crown installation process can be considered complete.

Our clinics

Clinic "Elident" on Varshavskaya

Varshavskoe highway, 75, bldg. 1, Moscow 117556

• Varshavskaya (500 m, closed until 2021)
• Nakhimovsky Prospekt (1,300 m)

Mon-Sat : 09:00-21:00; Sun : 09:00-19:00.

Online registration

+7 (495) 649-41-19

Elident Clinic in Annino

Varshavskoe highway, 154, building 1, Moscow 117405

• Annino (500 m)
• Academician Yangelya (700 m)

Mon-Sat : 09:00-21:00; Sun : 09:00-19:00.

Online registration

+7 (495) 649-41-19

How to place a crown on an implant?

A crown can be placed not only on a tooth, but also on an implant. This allows you to restore lost teeth without grinding down healthy units in the rows. Crowns on implants are durable, aesthetic, and visually indistinguishable from natural teeth.

Before placing a crown on an implant, an artificial root implantation procedure is performed. As soon as the implant takes root, an abutment is placed on it, and then a crown. Putting a crown on an implant will be more expensive than conventional prosthetics, but the price of the service is fully compensated by the impeccable aesthetics and long service life of both the implant and the crown.

Crown service life

Patients who plan to get a crown are often interested in its useful lifespan. The service life of a crown placed on a tooth will depend on a number of factors:

• Crown material and technology;
• The patient’s compliance with all doctor’s recommendations for crown care;
• Quality of preparation of teeth for prosthetics.

The last factor is of fundamental importance: if mistakes are made during the preparation and manufacturing of the crown, the crown will not last long, and undesirable complications may arise, due to which the crown will have to be removed and re-installed on the tooth. For these reasons, you need to very carefully choose the clinic where you plan to treat and restore your teeth! Remember that the worst type of saving is saving on your own health!

The crown must be placed in a well-equipped dental clinic, staffed by experienced orthopedic doctors and dental technicians. The clinic must use the most modern technologies for diagnostics, treatment and dental prosthetics; only this approach to the choice of dentistry guarantees high quality treatment!

Removal methods

Removing the product is quite difficult, especially if you need to keep it intact in order to reinstall it.

If removal is due to a broken structure, it is better to cut it with special tools.

If it is necessary to preserve the prosthesis, the following is used to remove it:

1. Crown removers (the most common are Kopp hooks) are special tools in the form of flat hooks that can be automatic or manual. With their help, the prosthesis is removed at the part where it connects to the tooth.
2. The forceps securely grasp the prosthesis with its jaws and remove it from the base.
3. Ultrasonic installations. Ultrasound waves can destroy the adhesive cement, after which the prosthesis can be easily removed.
4. Pneumatic tools, the use of which also contributes to the destruction of cement and facilitates the removal of the crown.

How much does it cost to put a crown on a tooth?

How much does it cost to put a crown on a tooth? It is difficult to give a definite and precise answer to this question, because the cost of installing a crown may include various additional but necessary procedures. For example, professional teeth cleaning, treatment of caries or pulpitis, treatment and filling of canals.

The cost of installing a crown will be influenced by both the material and the production technology of the prosthesis. The most expensive options are ceramic and zirconium crowns produced using CAD/CAM technology. But such crowns fully pay for their cost due to their high strength, reliability and aesthetics.

Also, the cost of installing a crown will depend on how it will be placed - on an abutment tooth or on an implant.

The best way to find out how much it costs to put a crown on a tooth is to come to an appointment with orthopedic doctors at our dental clinic in Moscow - “Firadent”. Experienced specialists of our dentistry will conduct an examination and diagnosis and draw up a treatment plan, which will indicate the exact price of the service.

What are the complications?

Let's consider complications that can appear after the installation of crowns:

1. Strong pressure from the product on soft tissue disrupts blood circulation and contributes to the formation of bedsores. In this case, the soft mucous membrane can die off at the point of contact between the gums and the crown. This is how prosthetic stomatitis can develop.
2. Damage to supporting dental units by caries. Poor cleaning of the oral cavity or poor preparation of the dental organs for the installation of a prosthesis leads to the accumulation of food particles under the crown, where bacteria that cause disease develop.
3. An allergy to the metals that make up the prosthesis may not appear immediately after installation of the structure, but after some time. There is a burning sensation in the mouth, dryness, and inflammation occurs.
4. Galvanic syndrome can be caused by the presence of various metals in the mouth. The result is the formation of an electric current, which enhances oxidative reactions. At the same time, the patient feels a metallic taste in the mouth, there may be a general malaise, a headache, the structure and neighboring dental organs may change color.

Each of these complications requires a quick reaction and a visit to the attending physician, otherwise you may lose the supporting tooth. The doctor will most likely remove the crown, perform treatment and install a new one.