Old Front Tooth Caps Don't Fool Anybody!

If you got a crown on one of your front teeth some time back, you may know the problem.

Your dentist did his or her best to match the color of the adjustment teeth (not an easy task, I promise you) and carefully slid the edge of the cap just under your gum t hide it’s metal rim- but even so, the tooth screams “FAKE” every time you smile.

To understand how that could be, it helps to take a look at exactly what front tooth caps are supposed to do.

A Virtually Impossible Situation

First, crowns need to be strong – tough enough for things like biting into a nice crisp juicy apple.  And, second, they need to look natural.

Unfortunately, with the materials available in the past, that was nearly impossible.

To get the strength they needed, dentists had to rely on crowns made of metal coated with tooth-colored porcelain. The hide the color of the metal, that porcelain had to be both thick and opaque.

Tug of War Between Form and Function

Because the porcelain fused to the metal had to be thick, old-fashioned crowns were potentially bulky.  And because it had to be opaque it was nearly impossible to truly match the teeth on either side.

You see, things that are opaque reflect light.  But your natural teeth are actually translucent – which means they let some light filter in and through. The effect is totally different – natural, and a lot more attractive.

Black Line Syndrome

To make things even worse, the dark metal shows through at the edge of old-fashioned crowns – and all the best dentists could do was try to hide that metal edge under your gum.

With luck that worked for a while- although in some folks the darkness showed right through the gum. As the years went by, however, your gums may have receded …sooner or later developing that tell-tale black line that makes it obvious the tooth is fake.

Problem Solved

Fortunately, today no one has to put up with a front tooth crown everyone knows isn’t real.  Thanks to new techniques and materials, we now have a number of esthetically excellent choices, including making crowns out of pure porcelain, or recent advanced versions of porcelain and metal crafted only of porcelain at the edge, or ultra-thin metal with light reflective characteristics not unlike the inner layers of your natural teeth!

Today’s front crowns look a lot less bulky – and a whole lot more natural looking. And that black line? Gone for good. In short, we’re not satisfied until your friends and family have no clue you’re sporting crowns right there in front of their eyes.

In fact, office like ours that have become expert in the new procedures like to say “no one has ever seen one of our crowns.”

If you’ve been living with an old-fashioned crown that makes you self conscious every time you smile – or if you have a front tooth that’s cracked, chipped or has a large cavity or old filling – these new crowns could be the beautiful answer you’ve been looking for.

If that sounds good, just give us a call at 248-433-6000.  We’ll give you all the details about how easy it is to go from fake looking to fabulous.

Yours in Health and Happiness,

Dr. Kaz