A good set of healthy, white sparkling teeth is desired by many. Folks are known to have gone to great lengths to have an ideal smile. A standard answer to the problems associated with physical dental damage is a dental crown. A dental crown makes reference to the method of restoration of teeth using certain materials which are cemented over or on top of a tooth.

Dental crowns are typically used to fix the appearance of the teeth. Broken teeth or teeth demolished by dental rot are usually restructured with the help from dental crowns. A significant difference between crowns and fillings is that unlike fillings, laboratory molded dental crowns act as a support to the leftover teeth. Because crowns are made in a lab, one has to have at least 2 trips to the dentist for a crown to be fitted. The crown is fitted after one or two weeks of taking an impression of the teeth. The new crown is fixed by utilizing dental cement which acts as glue and sticks the crown with the teeth.

Today, an array of materials are being used for making Dental crowns, a number of them are:

* Porcelain Crowns Renowned for their natural teeth like color, Porcelain crowns are commonly utilized for covering front teeth. The use of Porcelain, not being a strong material, is confined to the front teeth only.

* Porcelain bonded to metal These Crowns have the benefit of Porcelain crowns and the strength of metal.

* Ceramic Crowns – These crowns are mostly renowned for their looks, hardness and the ability to be positioned at anyplace in the mouth. Ceramic crowns have teeth like color and structure which makes it very suitable to be utilized as dental crowns.

* Gold Alloy Utilized for centuries, a gold alloy crown is also one of the most renowned crowns utilized in todays world. Gold alloy, due to its stable and non reactive nature, is ok for crowns as it would not produce any damaging toxins after reacting with spit or other food items. Its toughness and stature made it a perfect choice to be used in crowns in early times.

Usually crowns are awfully tough to spot and will need a careful eye. A new crown may feel little uncomfortable but one can get used to it very quickly. The expected life of a crown is 7 to 10 years but with careful and good upkeep and oral hygiene, they can last even longer. Crowns are used only to have an improved appearance of the teeth. Although, crowns are very hard and very durable, they won’t work for preventing tooth decay.

Although beneficial in the long run, Dental crowns cannot be called inexpensive. Generally, a dental crown is available in the range of $500 to $1,100. The cost of a dental crown depends principally on the standard of crown used, needs and the services offered. The cost of a dental crown, if utilized for restorative purposes, is generally covered by a healthcare insurance. But if dental crowns are utilized for cosmetic dentistry, the pricetag would have to be taken by the patient itself because cosmetic alignments are sometimes not covered in the health insurance.