Before you have that badly broken and decayed tooth extracted, you should always think about having a crown placed on the tooth.

1. Dr Muzzafar Zaman - Crowns
Before you have that badly broken and decayed tooth extracted, you should always
think about having a crown placed on the tooth. This is because a crown can make
the tooth last for many more years to come. A dental crown is like a hard protective
cover over what remains of your own natural tooth. This means that you can
continue to eat and chew as normal again. The new dental crowns are so good that
they are almost imperceptible from natural teeth for appearance. When having a
crown done there are only 2 things to really consider:
1. The strength
2. The appearance
For strength, nothing comes closer to gold crowns. They can be made very thin but
will last years and years. I have several patients who had gold crowns placed by me
when I was still a student. These gold crowns look like they were placed yesterday
and will certainly go on for another 20 years. The second factor to consider is the
appearance because not everyone wants their crown to be gold and what if it is at
the front of the mouth. For these reasons, dental porcelain is used to make aesthetic
dental crowns. In the early days, the porcelain could break so a layer of metal was
used underneath to strengthen. These were called porcelain fused to metal crowns
or PFM or VMK crowns. Due to the metal, they can sometimes look bulky and a black
line can be seen around the gum line. For this reason, at our clinic we use the new
type of crowns that does not need the layer of metal. There are different names for
these crowns such as Cerec, Zirconia and EMAX. All crowns only take one or two
visits to have done. Once your tooth has been cleaned and shaped, dental
impressions are taken so that a crown can be made which will be exactly like your
own natural tooth. Once your new crown has been fitted, you can chew on it straight
away. Cleaning and flossing is just how you normally clean. We have several dental
payment interest free options so you can spread out the payments.