Getting crowns

moneyman

Hi all,

About 8 years ago I had an accident at a fair. It ended with me breaking my front two teeth, which were already pretty big at the time. Just the bottom half of each broke off, although not in a straight line (if that makes sense). I got fillings (probably not the right term) as I couldn't have crowns done until at least 16. They broke a few times and I got them re-done but that's beside the point.

I also had braces about 6 years ago but my teeth still aren't straight (which is very disheartening as I thought the pain of having braces would be worth it). My front two still stick out a little. I'm very self-conscious about my smile which is annoying because I smile alot. Anyway, I'm just wondering what the story is with crowns. I've been doing research but it's still hard to get a clear picture of what will happen.

The time has come where I think it's about time I get the crowns done. Will my two front teeth be made different to how they look now? I'd love for them to be smaller and more "normal". Is this possible or will the dentist simply make an impression of my current teeth and then make crowns to match them? Can I get this procedure done in one sitting? I realise I will have to have a meeting/consultation with the dentist first at a previous date.

Also, does anyone know roughly how much crowns for two front teeth would cost?

Thanks in advance.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Crowns can correct some crooked teeth but not totally if the actual tooth is very misplaced. Crowns tend to have to fill the space thats there unless you want more braces or gaps between the teeth? They will take a lest two visits to do cause they are made in a laboratory so the dentist takes an impression of the prepared teeth and sends it off, after 2-3 weeks they come back and are tried in. dentist with specific expertise with crowns and cosmetic dental works is a prosthodontist, this type of dentist has usually 3 years or more extra full time training in crown and bridge work. Ask your general dentist about it

moneyman

Thanks for the reply.

Yehuda Ugly Sickness wrote: »

Crowns can correct some crooked teeth but not totally if the actual tooth is very misplaced.

My front teeth aren't very misplaced. As I said I had braces when I was younger I just didn't wear my retainer consistently in the immediate aftermath. I think this has led to a slight movement of my front teeth. Will the crowns help in this case?

Crowns tend to have to fill the space thats there unless you want more braces or gaps between the teeth?

I don't understand this. I'm assuming that the crown will replace the bits of my teeth that were broke off, but I'm also wondering will the dentist shave off more of the teeth so that they will be smaller?

They will take a lest two visits to do cause they are made in a laboratory so the dentist takes an impression of the prepared teeth and sends it off, after 2-3 weeks they come back and are tried in.

What do you mean by the "prepared teeth"? Will he take an impression of my current two front teeth or will he prepare teeth to match what I want? If it is just an impression of my current teeth I'm as well to leave the whole thing as my current "fillings" show no sign of breaking and the crowning process would essentially be a waste of money. The whole point of me wanting to do this is to change what my front teeth look like.

dentist with specific expertise with crowns and cosmetic dental works is a prosthodontist, this type of dentist has usually 3 years or more extra full time training in crown and bridge work. Ask your general dentist about it

Are all dentists qualified to do crowns or just prosthodontists? Do you think I would be better off going to a prosthodontist for getting a better result? And lastly, would it be much more expensive?


Thanks very much for the help, and sorry for all the questions. :pac:

btkm8unsl0w5r4

google dental crown for some picture of what a crown is, all dentists can do crown, prosthodontists do better crowns and more complex cases Again without knowing your case best to ask your dentist about it.

georgieporgy

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Here is an example of a crown I placed yesterday to repair a fractured front tooth. As well as being fractured the original tooth was slightly rotated. The patient wanted it straightened and fixed and wanted a good colour match also. Cost 1100euro.

davo10

Moneyman, before having any treatment, ask your dentist to have a diagnostic wax up made by a good cosmetic lab. This is done as follows:
1. Dentist takes impressions of your teeth in existing state and forwards to Lab.
2. Plaster models are poured up from impressions then copied.
3. On one set of plaster models the lab technician places white wax in the shape your teeth will be AFTER crowns have been placed and returns to dentist. You therefore have before and after plaster models.

These are invaluable in treatment planning and it is in the planning stage that most mistakes are made. The benefits are that it shows you in advance of treatment what your teeth will be like when finished, it allows dentist to illustrate the limitations if there are any, of treatment. A matrix can be made on waxed up plaster model which can be used to place temporary crown material over your untreated teeth, thus showing you in situ what your crowns will be like when finished before any drilling is done (can be removed after viewing in a mirror). They allow the dentist to alter shapes of waxed teeth on model if patient desires and gives the Lab a blue print on what crowns are to be like when finished. They allow dentist to place temporary crowns while permanent ones are being made in lab.

Put simply they allow you a trial run to see if you like the result BEFORE you commit to having your teeth drilled. Expect to pay a couple of hundred euros for clinical time and lab costs but it is money very well spent if you are planning to change shape and appearence of front teeth.

moneyman

davo10 wrote: »

Moneyman, before having any treatment, ask your dentist to have a diagnostic wax up made by a good cosmetic lab. This is done as follows:
1. Dentist takes impressions of your teeth in existing state and forwards to Lab.
2. Plaster models are poured up from impressions then copied.
3. On one set of plaster models the lab technician places white wax in the shape your teeth will be AFTER crowns have been placed and returns to dentist. You therefore have before and after plaster models.

This is something I will seriously consider. However, for this to happen wouldn't I have to knock out my current fillings out of my front two teeth before the impression was done? If so, will the dentist make two temporary crowns for me to wear while my impression is sent away? I think you mentioned this below, but I just want to be sure. I don't want to be walking around for a couple weeks with half of my front two teeth missing.
Also, re: cost, it should be a couple hundred euros, right?

These are invaluable in treatment planning and it is in the planning stage that most mistakes are made. The benefits are that it shows you in advance of treatment what your teeth will be like when finished, it allows dentist to illustrate the limitations if there are any, of treatment. A matrix can be made on waxed up plaster model which can be used to place temporary crown material over your untreated teeth, thus showing you in situ what your crowns will be like when finished before any drilling is done (can be removed after viewing in a mirror). They allow the dentist to alter shapes of waxed teeth on model if patient desires and gives the Lab a blue print on what crowns are to be like when finished. They allow dentist to place temporary crowns while permanent ones are being made in lab.

Can you clarify what you mean by the term "drilling"? I wasn't aware there would be any drilling involved in crowning!

So a simple walkthrough would go like this:

1.Dentist breaks off current fillings on front teeth.
2. Dentist takes impression of untreated teeth and sends off to lab.
3. Dentist puts in temporary filling to remain until the crown model comes back in 2-3 weeks.
4. Crown model comes back. (If the crown models get the OK at this point, can the dentist do the crown procedure at that moment or will a further date be scheduled?)

Put simply they allow you a trial run to see if you like the result BEFORE you commit to having your teeth drilled. Expect to pay a couple of hundred euros for clinical time and lab costs but it is money very well spent if you are planning to change shape and appearence of front teeth.

This sounds like the best option. Only thing I am worried about is costs. I am only doing the Leaving Cert. this year but I really want to get this done. I received a sum at the time of the accident to cover the crowns, but I'm not sure if it will be enough to cover the cost of the diagnostic wax-up, as well as two crowns at E1100 a pop, if georgieporgys prices are anything to go by (don't mean that to be an insult, just using it as an estimate).

georgieporgy wrote: »

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Here is an example of a crown I placed yesterday to repair a fractured front tooth. As well as being fractured the original tooth was slightly rotated. The patient wanted it straightened and fixed and wanted a good colour match also. Cost 1100euro.

That fracture is similar to the ones I have on each of mine. My teeth are in better condition than his, mind, and his fractures might be slightly bigger. You mention that his tooth was slightly rotated at first, does that mean you can change it? Mine are slightly protruding, would I be able to get mine straightened a little? The cost is high but if I could afford it I would pay it. I want a good job done as I hate being so self-conscious of my smile.

Yehuda Ugly Sickness wrote: »

google dental crown for some picture of what a crown is, all dentists can do crown, prosthodontists do better crowns and more complex cases Again without knowing your case best to ask your dentist about it.

I think I will end up going to a prosthodontist if possible. Are they more expensive can you tell me? BTW, I wouldn't mind PMing you a picture of my teeth if you wanted to take a look. You might be able to be a bit more specific if you saw them?


Thanks for the help everyone. Keep it coming I need all the help I can get!

BryanL

georgieporgy wrote: »

1.jpg

3.jpg

Here is an example of a crown I placed yesterday to repair a fractured front tooth. As well as being fractured the original tooth was slightly rotated. The patient wanted it straightened and fixed and wanted a good colour match also. Cost 1100euro.

Stunning work on that tooth, great when you get one you can get a nice bit of character put into it.
If it a pfm,pjc or other. Did they get shade taken at the lab or just from pictures and description?
cost €1,100 but more than enough value
Bryan

davo10

Moneyman, fillings are not removed prior to impressions for diagnostic wax up, alterations are done on models in lab.

A ceramic crown requires some tooth reduction (drilling) in order to provide space to fit crown over tooth stump. The amount of reduction depends on type of crown that best suits you. If no drilling was done, the ceramic crown would not fit over tooth.

if you are altering the appearance of your teeth, get a quote for wax up and crowns, hold off for a while if you need to save a little. Honestly it is better that you know in advance what your teeth will look like at the end of treatment, that way there is no risk of dissappointment.

Remember you will only ever want to do this once, get it done right this time and the crowns will look the part for years to come.

moneyman

davo10 wrote: »

Moneyman, fillings are not removed prior to impressions for diagnostic wax up, alterations are done on models in lab.

A ceramic crown requires some tooth reduction (drilling) in order to provide space to fit crown over tooth stump. The amount of reduction depends on type of crown that best suits you. If no drilling was done, the ceramic crown would not fit over tooth.

if you are altering the appearance of your teeth, get a quote for wax up and crowns, hold off for a while if you need to save a little. Honestly it is better that you know in advance what your teeth will look like at the end of treatment, that way there is no risk of dissappointment.

Remember you will only ever want to do this once, get it done right this time and the crowns will look the part for years to come.

Thanks Davo, your advice is invaluable to me. I will indeed get a quote and seek thorough advice from a dentist. I intend to get it done right the first time. I hate going to the dentist (I'm still traumatised after my initial accident which landed me in this mess), so I don't have plans to go back unnecessarily!

Just one more question, though. If I get the wax model done and it comes back and I'm not fond of it, do I have to pay again to get it sent back or changed? How do I go about changing it?

Thanks again. I really appreciate it.

georgieporgy

BryanL wrote: »

Stunning work on that tooth, great when you get one you can get a nice bit of character put into it.
If it a pfm,pjc or other. Did they get shade taken at the lab or just from pictures and description?
cost €1,100 but more than enough value
Bryan

Thanks Bryan. It's an empress crown. For shading purposes I usually take a few photos with shade tabs at different angles and email them to the lab (in USA). They generally get the shade right first time. occasionally a remake or adjustment is necessary - esp where teeth are whiter and small variations are more noticeable- but there is no extra cost for that. Diagnostic waxups are included in the 1100 fee. unfortunately I took only 1 'after' photo and didn't realise it was out of focus till I enlarged it. (I'm only a GP so am still learning)

My fee for ordinary crowns is 800 . Same lab but less attention given to aesthetics. usually reserved for back teeth or in the front where I am trying to match other old crowns that patient is happy with.

georgieporgy

Moneyman , from what you have told us so far it sounds like you are aged about 17/18, your two front teeth are protruding slightly and they have biggish unsightly fillings on them which draws more attention to their appearance ( I'm just guessing that the fillings look bad). The 2 front teeth are normally bigger than the adjacent ones. When they are protruding slightly it exaggerates their size.

I think your first port of call should be your original orthodontist who may be able to reposition them easily,quickly and cheaply. This would not involve the same amount of work you had done when you first had braces.

If the teeth are still big and ugly their appearance can be changed with veneers or crowns. The choice between veneers or crowns would generally be determined by how badly broken the teeth were in the first place. Cost would be the same but less tooth substance is removed in veneers.
It could just be that your fillings are big and bulky. If they were redone nicely that may suffice.

if you can post a picture on the thread we could all stop guessing

davo10

Moneyman, wax models can be adjusted by dentist to an extent. When matrix is used to place mock crowns on teeth with temporary crown material, they can be adjusted by dentist to your satisfaction. The wax models are then altered in the same manner and sent back to lab with impressions of prepared teeth, the lab copies shape of wax models which have been altered to make teeth look the way you want them to look. The amount of alteration which can be done has limits depending on the natural anatomy of the teeth, eg changes to shape should not put vitality of teeth at risk.

moneyman

Hi guys, sorry for the bump. Nearly a year on and I still haven't got this done. Starting college soon and I wish I had gotten this sorted over the summer, but oh well.

Does anyone have any recommendations of where I could go toget a diagnostic wax up and crowns? Dublin area if possible.

BTW, if anyone here is experienced in this area I can send a picture of my teeth through PM, I'd love to have an idea of how much I can alter the appearance of the front two.

Thanks in advance for any help.

EDIT: BTW, does anyone know anything about Cerec 3D procedures? I'd be interested but could anyone tell me if they're reliable, would I be able to get an idea of the finished tooth, price etc.?

Big_G

I just got back from the Cerec 25th anniversary conference in las vegas. This technology is finally mature and results can be as good as a lab made crown. I do staining and glazing chairside to match the other teeth.

Anterior work still requires a wax up to be really good, but the cerec can scan and copy the wax up.

moneyman

Big_G wrote: »

I just got back from the Cerec 25th anniversary conference in las vegas. This technology is finally mature and results can be as good as a lab made crown. I do staining and glazing chairside to match the other teeth.

Anterior work still requires a wax up to be really good, but the cerec can scan and copy the wax up.

Can I ask you to elaborate (if you have the time)? Do you do crowns etc.? What price range would we be talking for a Cerec job on two front teeth, as well as a wax up to ensure that I'll be happy? I realise there's alot of invariables, but I'd be grateful for any help.

I know there's a place in Galway that does Cerec, but I have no idea of their reputation or prices. Their website looks professional, although I get the feeling that they would be quite expensive.

Big_G, if it helps I can send you a picture of my teeth through PM?

Big_G

Cerec can do crowns.

You're usually looking at between 600 and 1200 euro for cerec per tooth. Wax ups range in cost. For two front teeth probably about 150 euro. They are a good clinic, and the longest using cerec in Ireland.

If you want, why don't you post pictures here to get some opinions from Cerec users and non-cerec users.

chui

just checking you realise that crowns are very different from the fillings you have already.
The advantages of white filling is that they do no damage to the existing teeth, we just add them on. A crown requires 1 to 1.5mm of tooth removed from each side and front and back of tooth. It is an irreversible process and can result in the nerve inside the tooth dying. we can get great aesthetics but like any thing else man-made they may not last forever. if you are 17 or so it may be better to wait til you are a bit older. The gum is still maturing and if it moves "up" the tooth you can get a very unsightly line at the top of the crown even if the crown is still functioning well. If the fillings are doing well it could be better to re-align teeth or adjust the shape of the fillings to improve the look of the teeth.
One other thing, if you do get crowns you will not be able to whiten them later on. ie if you want whiter teeth do the whitening first.

snowstreams

I broke my two front teeth 2 years ago. They were damaged fairly badly so I got two root canals done and then got resin teeth put on the old damaged teeth.
Im getting married in 6 months time, so i want to go and get some crowns done. One of the resin teeth lost its colour over time so crowns seem to be the best bet.
Im in galway and noticed that CEREC is mentioned above.
Would that be a good bet for me? Id like to get something permanent done that would still look good in 10-20 years time?
Is there much of a difference in quality in the finished product between a traditional crown and a CEREC crown?

moneyman

Hey all, sorry again to bump this old thread. But I still haven't resolved this and am looking to get the work done soon. I've decided to post two photos of the front teeth to give people a better idea. There isn't a major amount of work to be done - I just want them less bulky, and also straighter if possible (they protrude slightly - the second photo probably doesn't do a great job of showing it).

What do people think? Would crowns also fix the protrusion aspect? If not, I'd be willing to get braces again (probably on the inside of the teeth) to correct it. Would it be better to do this after the crowns?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions. I don't know if Davy10 or GeorgiePorgy still post but if they do, I'd love to hear from them.

Butterface

moneyman wrote: »

Hey all, sorry again to bump this old thread. But I still haven't resolved this and am looking to get the work done soon. I've decided to post two photos of the front teeth to give people a better idea. There isn't a major amount of work to be done - I just want them less bulky, and also straighter if possible (they protrude slightly - the second photo probably doesn't do a great job of showing it).

What do people think? Would crowns also fix the protrusion aspect? If not, I'd be willing to get braces again (probably on the inside of the teeth) to correct it. Would it be better to do this after the crowns?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions. I don't know if Davy10 or GeorgiePorgy still post but if they do, I'd love to hear from them.

I'm not a dentist but I got my two front teeth crowned last year. My reason was that one of them had become discoloured from a root canal. Since I had never been happy with the shape and size of them, I decided to get both crowned.

Mine protruded quite a bit, and although he couldn't pull them back entirely, they are a lot less noticeable than before. I also asked for my crowns to be shorter than my original teeth. I am so happy with the results, and it has meant a full year of toothy grins for me. It definitely improves your confidence when you have a good smile.

When the dentist first got them back from the lab, they were a shade too white. He was trying to persuade me to go with them, but I wanted them to blend in with my teeth so he sent them back. The second time around I was even more nervous, but they were spot on. And very few people have even noticed I had work done on my teeth. It's subtle work, but makes a big improvement!

georgieporgy

moneyman wrote: »

Hey all, sorry again to bump this old thread. But I still haven't resolved this and am looking to get the work done soon. I've decided to post two photos of the front teeth to give people a better idea. There isn't a major amount of work to be done - I just want them less bulky, and also straighter if possible (they protrude slightly - the second photo probably doesn't do a great job of showing it).

What do people think? Would crowns also fix the protrusion aspect? If not, I'd be willing to get braces again (probably on the inside of the teeth) to correct it. Would it be better to do this after the crowns?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions. I don't know if Davy10 or GeorgiePorgy still post but if they do, I'd love to hear from them.

Crowns or veneers should easily fix your problem. But it's also possible that redoing the fillings might be adequate. Those photos are a help but one would have to see you in the flesh so to speak to offer best advice.

your teeth look pretty good overall.