Skip to main content
Category

Dental Crowns

Nov 14
adult-teeth-are-small-blog

Adult teeth are small

By Dental Crowns, Porcelain Veneers

I am 42 years old and my teeth are extremely small. They are the size of a child’s teeth. When I am talking to people—particularly new clients—invariably their eyes are drawn to my teeth, even if it’s only for a moment. My lips are full, so maybe that helps draw attention to my teeth. I have read about dental bonding, porcelain crowns and porcelain veneers. Is there a preferred treatment for small teeth? – Melanie

Melanie – Dental bonding is often used to make small repairs in teeth, such as gaps or cracks. Bonding is somewhat soft. In time, it can wear, stain, or get scratched. It is not ideal for enlarging all of your teeth.

Porcelain crowns cover the entire tooth. It is an excellent means of preserving teeth that are badly broken or worn, and that might otherwise me extracted.

Porcelain veneers cover the front of your teeth. They are an excellent way of enlarging your teeth. Thin layers of porcelain will be bonded to the front of your teeth. A cosmetic dentist will provide you with veneers with color and translucency that looks natural. For a beautiful smile makeover, the cost is approximately $1000 to $2000 per tooth, depending on where you live.

Avoid finding a bargain price for porcelain veneers. Find a few experienced cosmetic dentists, look at pictures of their smile designs, and make a decision that includes quality as a factor—not price alone. If you find that the cost of veneers is not within your budget at this time, don’t opt for a cheap veneers. Wait until your budget allows you to get a beautiful smile makeover with porcelain veneers.

This post is sponsored by Naperville dentist Dr. Anthony LaVacca.

 

Aug 07

Should I get a metal foundation crown if I’m allergic to metal?

By Dental Crowns

Hi,

My dentist wants to give me a porcelain fused to metal crown for my recent root canal. The problem is I’m allergic to metal. What about Zirconia? Would that be a better option?

Denise L. – Colorado Springs

Denise,

If your rash comes from things like cheap jewelry, than you are more than likely allergic to the nickel.  Any good dentist will include a question about metal allergies in your health questionnaire. Hopefully your dentist asked you about that. If not, I would consider a different dentist for your oral health needs.

If your allergy is to nickel, than you don’t have to worry about any precious metals in your mouth. There are three categories of metals used in dental crowns.

  • Base metals (non-precious metals)-Base metals are still and inexpensive. They are very likely to have nickel in them.
  • Noble metals (semi-precious metals)-These are softer and more workable. They have  have at least 40% of a combination of gold, platinum, and palladium. The rest will be silver and very tiny amounts of indium, gallium, copper, tin, zinc, and others.
  • High-noble metals (precious metals)-High noble metals are even softer and more workable. These are more accurate than the other two. They’re made of at least 60% noble metals, usually more, with most of that being in gold and platinum.

You shouldn’t have any problems with a nickel allergy with either noble or high noble metals in your dental crowns. If your dentist is familiar AND experienced with using Zirconia then that will be fine. However, if he isn’t, than I wouldn’t push him. It is a fairly new technique and he’d need training with it.

This blog is brought to you by Naperville Dentist Dr. Anthony LaVacca.

Close Menu