Replacing a PFM crown with an all ceramic crown

dh2007

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on getting an all porcelain crown. Here's a brief synopsis of my history/case:

I broke two of my front teeth when I was child and I now have one crown and one temporary cap (they're not side by side). While the cap looks perfect, I'd like to get the crowned one replaced.

My dentist fitted a porcelain crown with a gold post approximately 6 years ago. I now have differently shaped gumlines, the crown is a poor colour match to those around it, it looks bulky and isn't the correct size/shape (the gumline issue seems to attentuate this).

I'm hoping to get it replaced with an all porcelain crown and I was wondering whether this was possible? Now that the PFM crown is in, is that it?? Is an implant my only option? I know my dentist didn't want to put in an all porcelain crown as she said that they're not as strong. TBH I wouldn't have minded having to be careful with biting into things if it provided a better appearance.

Any advice would be great! a recommendation on a dentist would also be appreciated. I'm not too worried about the cost.

BryanL

The newer all ceramic crowns available can be made with a zirconium core, which is as strong as the metal core in a PFM. Porcelain is added over this ceramic core to mimic the surrounding teeth.
They can look fantastic, however your dentist will have to mask the underlying gold core.
As your dentist about a Lava or Procera crown?

I've placed a Lava crown on the right of the picture attached, the shade match was perfect but the slight amount of blood from the gum has distorted the true shade. Hope this helps
B

BryanL

picture of 3 PFM's and one All Ceramic (Haven't polished off all the cement yet), if you can't see the difference then get a nice cheap crown! Top right is a Lava crown

dh2007

BryanL wrote: »

The newer all ceramic crowns available can be made with a zirconium core, which is as strong as the metal core in a PFM. Porcelain is added over this ceramic core to mimic the surrounding teeth.
They can look fantastic, however your dentist will have to mask the underlying gold core.
As your dentist about a Lava or Procera crown?

I've placed a Lava crown on the right of the picture attached, the shade match was perfect but the slight amount of blood from the gum has distorted the true shade. Hope this helps
B

thanks for the info BryanL. Is it possible to replace the gold post with a ceramic one?

that looks great - you can barely tell the difference. Want to do my new crown?!

edit: you actually can't tell the difference at all

BryanL

The gold post should be assessed first of course, to ensure it's of the correct length, shape and design. It should be possible to mask the post with correct shading(you may need to go to the dental lab for that.
There are many dentists out there that do work like this routinely.
You need to discuss what you want from the crown fully with them and if they don't want to discuss it, vote with your feet.
The crowns actually look much better than in the pictures(I have to upgrade my camera)
B

dufie

dhoo7,
know this is an old post, but maybe you still have a peek at dental issues. just wondering how did the new crown work out? did you have gold post replaced or was he able to mask it with ceramic? did your gumline shape improve any?