Crowns/Inlays/Onlays

Sometimes the best dental treatment for a tooth is to use a restoration that is made in a laboratory from a mold or 3-D image scan of the tooth. These custom-made restorations, which require two or more visits, can be a crown, an inlay or an onlay.

A crown covers the entire chewing surface and sides of the tooth. It can cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there isn't enough tooth left. It can be used to attach a bridge, protect a weak tooth from breaking or restore one that's already broken. A crown is a good way to cover teeth that are discolored or badly shaped. It's also used to cover a dental implant.

An inlay is smaller and fits with in the contours of the tooth.

An onlay is similar to an inlay, but it is larger and covers some or all chewing surfaces of the tooth.

The cost of these restorations is generally higher due to the number and length of visits required and the additional cost of having the restoration made in a dental laboratory. Materials used to fabricate these restorations are porcelain (ceramic), porcelain fused to a metal-supporting structure or gold alloys. They can either be tooth-colored or yellow gold. The material used depends on how much tooth structure is being replaced and the severity of the patients grinding/chewing habits.

Upper Front Teeth Crowns: this patient wanted to fix the crowding and staining of her teeth. She also had crowns on the teeth next to her front two that were replaced also.
Upper and lower front teeth were crowned. This patient wanted the space between his two front teeth closed.
Upper front teeth crowns.
Upper front teeth crowns: this patient’s main concern was the crowding of teeth.
This patient broke his front tooth. The tooth was salvageable with a crown!
This patient wanted to close all spaces. We prepped the teeth and were able to do a combination of veneers and crowns to help achieve the look she desired.