What’s the Difference Between Dental Fillings and Crowns?

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What’s the Difference Between Dental Fillings and Crowns?

By Wright Smiles

If you’ve ever had to restore a tooth, either from infectious disease or from a traumatic injury, then you are probably aware that you have a wide range of choices for dental restoration, each designed for a specific need. Among the most common dental restorations available today, dental fillings and crowns have come a long way over the last few decades. Aside from restoring teeth from damage, the modern dental restorations also focus on discretion, allowing patients to enjoy healthier, stronger teeth without announcing their dental treatment to the world. With extensive experience and a professional joy in seeing patients enjoy healthy, beautiful smiles, Southlake cosmetic dentist, Dr. Gregory Wright, can custom-design tooth-colored dental fillings and crowns to restore the beauty and function to our patients’ smiles.

What is a Dental Filling?

Until recently, metal amalgam was the dental filling material of choice. The metal mixture is inexpensive and relatively durable, but it can also mar a smile with a metallic shine every time patients eat, speak, or flash their pearly whites. Aside from aesthetics, however, the metal in amalgam fillings can damage teeth by contracting and expanding with cold and heat, like most other metals. When a dental filling changes shape, it can crack or fracture an inflexible tooth, or create spaces for bacteria to reach the inner tooth structures again. Using innovative composite dental resin in place of amalgam, Dr. Wright can help reinforce your tooth discretely, tinting the resin to match the shade and tone of your natural teeth. Because the tooth-colored dental filling is bonded to the tooth’s surface, resin fillings also provide increased security by more effectively sealing off the tooth’s vulnerable inner structures.

What is a Dental Crown?

When a tooth has suffered significant structural damage, or when decay requires us to remove a sizable amount of a patient’s tooth tissue, then Dr. Wright may recommend placing a dental crown over the affected tooth to strengthen it and help prevent further damage. A crown is specially shaped to mimic the top portion of a tooth and is placed over a weak tooth to protect it from the stresses of everyday use. Typically made from dental porcelain, dental crowns are layered to mimic the light-reflecting properties of your natural tooth enamel, creating a discrete restoration that will look exactly like a natural tooth.

About Gregory Wright, DDS:

As a native Texan, Dr. Gregory Wright opened his private practice in Southlake, TX in 1992. He is happily accepting new patients from Southlake, Grapevine, Keller, Trophy Club, Colleyville, and all surrounding communities. To schedule an appointment with your cosmetic dentist, call our office today at (817) 481-7999.