At Stony Brook Dental Care PLLC, we prefer to restore both the appearance and the health of our patients’ smiles. We therefore highly recommend porcelain crowns and bridges for most patients who need to rebuild or replace their teeth, saving metallic restorations for situations when they are absolutely necessary. Porcelain restorations offer patients a variety of advantages that often make them more suitable than metal restorations.
Natural Appearance
The most direct improvement porcelain restorations have over completely metallic ones is their cosmetic appearance. Metal crowns visually stick out in the smile; as effective as they are at restoring the physical health of teeth, many patients find their noticeable appearance to be harmful to their self-esteem. A porcelain crown, however, looks exactly like a natural, healthy tooth. The image of the smile is not harmed by the use of porcelain crowns, and in most cases, adding a dental ceramic prosthetic actually improves the patient’s appearance. In order to help patients look and feel their best, a porcelain restoration is often more beneficial than silver-colored or gold alloy crowns.
Natural Feel
The visual image of the porcelain crown is not the only way dental ceramic prosthetics blend into the smile. The physical texture of porcelain is also very similar to how natural enamel feels. Patients are not constantly reminded that their tooth has a crown on it, which is another way that these crowns better support a patient’s self-confidence. This is one advantage that porcelain has over both metal alloys and other cosmetic dental materials, which tend to feel less natural.
Sturdiness
The main reason that metallic restorations are still used in dentistry is that they are exceptionally resilient. If a tooth being treated for decay is affected by teeth grinding, jaw clenching, or other stresses outside of what a healthy mouth normally experiences, then a silver-colored or gold alloy crown might be a more beneficial treatment.
However, this is not to say that porcelain restorations are not resilient. A porcelain crown is sturdy enough to last in most patient’s smiles, making it an effective treatment for almost anyone. Even in the event that porcelain will not serve a patient’s needs alone, this dental ceramic can be layered over a metallic base to provide an effective balance between the restorative and esthetic needs a patient has.
Contact Us for Restorative Dental Care
Stony Brook Dental Care PLLC provides porcelain crowns and bridges in Jeffersontown, Hurstbourne, Douglas Hills, and all surrounding communities in the Louisville, KY metropolitan area. Whether providing these porcelain restorations as esthetic alternatives to their metallic counterparts or as restorations for dental implant treatment, Dr. Michael Barnett will help you rebuild the beauty and functional health of your smile. For more information about our cosmetic approaches to restorative dental care, call our practice and schedule your next dental appointment today.