Birmingham, AL Porcelain Crowns
At Alabaster Aesthetic Dentistry, we use metal-free ceramic and porcelain crowns for their premium quality, function, and aesthetics.
About Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal
Porcelain, by itself, is a very hard but also brittle material that will break under stress. It wasn’t that long ago that porcelain crowns had to be made with the porcelain overlaying a metal foundation in order to have adequate strength. This type of crown, called a porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crown, is still used today, but not in our practice. However, this compromises the aesthetics. The opaque metal base of the PFM crown blocks the flow of light through the teeth, giving them an unnatural appearance. What’s more, a PFM crown will also eventually begin to reveal the unsightly gray color you see at the gum line. For these reasons, we believe that a PFM crown should only be used when absolutely necessary — such as in extremely rare cases when exceptional strength is needed — and never in the smile zone.
In the 1980s, the development of bonding technology made it possible to give additional strength to the porcelain by bonding it to the underlying tooth. The images above show a case where PFM crowns on the four front teeth were replaced with all-porcelain crowns that were bonded on. You can see how they blend in naturally with the surrounding teeth, whereas PFM crowns don’t.
Today’s space-age ceramics are a further step forward. They allow creating high-strength crowns using only porcelain and other ceramics. Here’s an explanation of the materials we use.
Zirconia
Zirconia, often called “ceramic steel,” has exceptional strength. Much like metals, when stressed it will bend slightly rather than fracture, which gives it remarkable toughness.
There are two ways that zirconia is used for crowns. Monolithic zirconia is milled by a computer to fit your tooth exactly and faithfully reproduce the shape and color of your tooth. While this is the strongest form of zirconia, it has some aesthetic limitations. While the overall color of the tooth can be reproduced, it can’t be custom-tinted to fully reproduce all the subtleties present in a natural tooth. When used, it is used for back teeth that are subject to higher stresses and where the aesthetics aren’t as demanding.
Layered zirconia, however, consists of a zirconia core for strength, overlaid with porcelain. Layered zirconia would be appropriate for a crown in the smile zone.
Lithium Disilicate
Lithium disilicate, like zirconia, is another high-strength ceramic that is milled by a computer. When used for back teeth, it can be color-matched to your other teeth, but, because of the inability for custom tinting, it won’t perfectly reproduce nature. Layered over with porcelain, however, we can create a perfectly natural result. This type of crown, called an e.max crown, is a great option for teeth in the smile zone.
Metal-Free Dentistry
These new technologies give us several options for restoring your teeth with metal-free dentistry.
When is a Crown Needed?
Crowns are used to replace decayed, damaged, or missing teeth. They are an important part of the following types of treatments:
Your Smile, Restored
If you are disappointed with the aesthetic outcome of your previous dental work, we would love to restore the beauty of your smile with natural-looking ceramics. Give us a call at (205) 663-6545 to schedule a consultation, or simply request an appointment online, and we’ll call you to schedule.
