What is the Difference Between A Cap And A Crown For Your Teeth?
You may sometimes hear most people talk about dental crowns and caps and be slightly concerned about the difference between these two cosmetic dental treatments. It may feel as if these two words are somehow used interchangeably, and that is because they are the same thing.
Dental caps do not differ from dental crowns. Dental crowns have been for a long time referred to as caps. You may still hear older people or people who do not work at the dental office still referring to them as caps. However, most dentists in Minneapolis, MN, use the term dental crown instead.
What Are Dental Caps and Crowns?
With time, our teeth get damaged. They may chip off or break. This can be caused by injuries, tooth decay, or wear and tear because of using them for a very long time. As a result, your teeth may lose their size and shape.
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap placed over the damaged tooth to restore its size, shape, and strength and improve its appearance. A dental crown is also placed over dental implants. It is cemented over your teeth and covers the visible part of your tooth, the part above the jawbone.
A tooth crown covers a decayed tooth, broken or damaged, or chipped teeth. It can also be used for cosmetic reasons on teeth that are not damaged. The dentist at our crown dental clinic has to drill your tooth down to fit the crown. This is meant to provide a site to which the crown will be attached.
Crowns have to be made specifically for the tooth affected. Thus, it takes more than one appointment to have a crown fitted. On your first visit to Holger Dental Group in Minnetonka, our family dentist will conduct a thorough examination of your mouth and take measurements to make impressions of your teeth.
They will then send this information to the laboratory so that the dental crowns can be made ready for the next dental visit. On the other hand, a dental cap is a layman’s term for a dental crown, meaning that it is just another name for the crown.
Dental crowns are made from different materials. They may be either ceramic, metal, or porcelain fused to metal. The ceramic ones are most popular because they look like natural teeth. It is hard to tell if they are not normal teeth.
Metal crowns can be gold or silver, and they are mainly placed on the back teeth to withstand aggressive chewing and biting.
The porcelain fused to metal is composed of porcelain and metal. The inner part of the crown is metal, while the outer part is covered in ceramic to make it look nicer and last longer.
How Are They Different From Each Other?
A dental crown and a dental cap are the same things. A dental cap is just another term commonly used by older people to refer to dental crowns.
A dental crown is a modern term used to refer to tooth-colored caps that protect damaged, brown, chipped, or discolored teeth.
Reasons For Needing A Dental Crown And Cap?
Getting a crown on your tooth may be for the following reasons:
- To protect a loose tooth from breaking or holding together parts of a cracked tooth.
- Hold a tooth in place with a large dental filling and a little left.
- To cover a dental implant
- Keep or hold a dental bridge in place
- Restoring an already broken tooth or a severely damaged tooth
- To cover severely discolored or misshapen teeth.
- Covering a tooth that has undergone a root canal
- For cosmetic dental modifications
In children, a dental crown can be used in baby teeth to:
- Protect a child’s tooth, which may be at a high risk of tooth decay, especially if the child finds it hard to keep up with daily oral hygiene.
- Lower the frequency of general anesthesia for children who cannot fully cooperate with proper dental care requirements because of behavior, age, or medical history.
- Save a child’s tooth that has been severely damaged by decay and cannot support a filling.