Temporary Versus Permanent Dental Crowns: Which One Will Save Your Tooth?

Dental crowns are among the most commonly used restorative dental treatments. They are a viable option for mending damaged and decayed teeth, ensuring lasting health and function. Many people are not fully aware of the different types of crowns and their roles, which can keep them from getting the care they need. In this article, we explain the difference between temporary and permanent crowns.

What are temporary crowns?

Temporary crowns are what they sound like: a type of dental crown that a patient will only have for a limited time. They provide short-term protection during the treatment process, ensuring that nothing happens to your tooth before a permanent crown can be placed. These provisional crowns are necessary because most permanent solutions take two visits to place. 

During the first visit, your dentist will remove decayed and damaged material from the affected tooth, along with some additional enamel, to shape the tooth into a suitable base for a dental crown. From there, they’ll take digital impressions of your smile to capture the exact size and shape of the prepared tooth, which is essential to ensuring a perfect fit. 

After the initial visit, however, you’ll then have to wait several weeks for the permanent crown to be manufactured by a specialized dental lab. Until then, your original tooth is vulnerable due to the lower amount of protective enamel. A temporary crown provides the protection you need against damage, decay, and sensitivity in the meantime.

What are permanent crowns?

Permanent crowns are the end goal of your treatment. They provide lasting protection for the restored tooth, ensuring lasting oral health and proper function. They’re also fully customized to suit your smile perfectly, delivering a beautiful and natural appearance.

While you’ll visit your trusted family dentist to get your dental crown, the actual manufacturing takes place in a dental lab. It will take the scans provided by your dentist to craft a high-quality crown with incredible precision. It’s a process that requires highly specialized equipment and techniques you won’t find at your typical dentist’s office.

Once your permanent crown is ready and shipped to your dentist, you’ll come back in for your second visit, during which the temporary crown will be removed and swapped for the permanent crown, which gets bonded to the prepared tooth. 

Your dentist may make some final adjustments for a perfect fit and natural appearance, but once placed, a crown provides years of lasting protection. You’ll enjoy natural eating and speaking, avoid pain or discomfort, and have the confidence to share your smile with the world.

Key Differences Between Temporary and Permanent Crowns

Temporary and permanent crowns can look quite similar at first glance, but there are a variety of key differences that suit them to their specific purposes. Permanent crowns are of much higher quality and are more customizable than temporary crowns.

Additionally, permanent crowns can be made from a variety of materials, from porcelain (and other ceramics) to gold. These materials provide the necessary strength to withstand biting and chewing, and options like porcelain offer a truly stunning appearance. Temporary crowns are typically made of resin or acrylic, which do the job for the short-term, but wear down quickly.

Another important distinction is that temporary crowns aren’t fully customized to suit your smile. The fit will do for the waiting period, but it simply won’t match the precision of a permanent crown. Its appearance will also not match your smile very well; while certainly tooth-shaped and tooth-colored, a temporary crown will stand out under any scrutiny.

You can’t expect temporary crowns to last much longer than the two to three weeks they’re designed for. Permanent crowns are a long-lasting solution. With proper care, they can last for upwards of 20 years without replacement, depending on the specific material used.

Which option will save your tooth?

When discussing your intent to get a crown with your family dentist near Wilson, North Carolina, they’ll make it clear that both temporary and permanent crowns are important parts of your treatment. However, they will also emphasize just how critical it is that you receive your permanent crown in a timely manner. 

You cannot rely on a temporary crown as a long-term solution, seeing as it wears down rapidly and can break easily. Over time, the imperfect fit of a temporary crown can also increase your risk of tooth decay and other complications. The final placement of the permanent crown is the only thing that will provide the lasting function and oral health you need from your tooth restoration. 

Tooth Restoration in Wilson, NC

Permanent and temporary crowns aren’t an either–or situation; they both play a part in restoring your smile. If you’re concerned about the health and integrity of your teeth, speak with a trusted dentist in Wilson, North Carolina, about dental crowns by scheduling a consultation with Dixon, Boles & Associates today.