2 Tips To Determining If Metal-Backed Porcelain Dental Crowns Are Right For You

Dental crowns are cosmetic dentistry tools that can cover up or correct a variety of problems including chipped teeth, deep stains, and the hole left by a root canal procedure. Crowns come in a few different materials that each has their pros and cons.

Metal-backed porcelain crowns are one of the most popular types, featuring a metal underside for stability and porcelain outer for a natural look. How can you determine whether this is the right crown for you? You should ultimately consult a dentist in your area, but there are a couple of the main ways to tell if a patient is a good match for metal-backed porcelain crowns.

Need Crown on a Grinding Tooth

Each type of tooth in your mouth performs a different role during chewing such as chewing or grinding. The broad, flattened molar teeth are an example of grinding teeth, which break down the food into small pieces for safe swallowing. The molars take on a lot of bite force that can potentially damage a softer material crown like an all-porcelain model.

A metal-backed porcelain crown offers better stability and a lessened risk of damage when used on a grinding tooth. You will still have the natural look of porcelain, and still, have the risk of the upper porcelain chipping, but the metal base will stand firm under the bite force pressures.

Depending on how widely you open your mouth during talking or laughing, you might want to consider an entirely metal crown instead for the grinding teeth. These rear teeth aren't typically visible to others, and the metal would offer added stability.

Want Strength but Not All Metal

All-porcelain crowns can prove weaker in any area of the mouth since all teeth participate in chewing. If you want to have a stronger crown, but don't want to go with an all-metal one due to the tooth's location near the front of your mouth, a metal-backed porcelain model is the best option.

A small amount of metal will show at the bottom of the crown, near the gum line, which isn't noticeable at all on rear grinding molars but might show up more on a forward, front-facing tooth. If this tiny amount of showing metal worries you, discuss the problem with your dentist (like those at Advanced Dentistry of St. Charles) and ask to see images of what the crowns look like in place for an idea of how much metal will show in your mouth.