Gold verses Porcalin(sp?) Crowns?

[Roxy]

I will be soon having my first crown done and have heard that gold crowns will last so much longer than porcalin (got lazy and didn't look up the spelling 1st) ones will. But then there is also the cost difference and depending on if you will see the gold crown in your mouth. Do porcalin really go to heck sooner? I suppose depending on if you are a big nut or hard candy chewer but I am curious to what others have experienced. So anyone out there....gold or porcalin?

Roxy

 

[Parsnip]

Porcelain for the front and gold for the back.

Porcelain is less conservative of tooth structure and liable to fracture unless it has an inner core for strength which means that they're bigger and more tooth needs to be drilled away to make space for them to fit. But at least they look nice!

Gold is more tooth friendly.

 

[Roxy]

So now you got me to thinking....hmmm, maybe I should post this as another topic on one of the other boards??? Do you think any teeth after the eye teeth should then be gold? -Since those are the ones you use to chew with more. Along with when you smile you can really only see up to your eye teeth any how, or some wheres in there. It just got me to thinking more when you said that, which is very true by all rights. Just hate to think price wise too.
Roxy

 

[Parsnip]

Very good point Roxy. You can usually see the premolars behind the eye teeth if you give a big cheesy grin

I'm not advocating that all your teeth need to be crowned either!! But it they do, I would have, gold premolars with a porcelain veneer where it shows on the side then gold molars and porcelain crowns at the front.

NHS gold crowns (precious metal allegedly) aren't really gold, just goldy-looking, and they tend to tarnish quickly, code 1711 (I think) on the statement of dental remuneration - tell that to your dentist and watch his eyes go out on stalks! Actually, what with new contracts and stuff, that's probably changed in most of the UK except Ireland where we are actually, a bit backward, although we might be getting electricty soon... . The premolars can be restored with porcelain bonded to precious metal crowns, again I'd have metal on the occlusal (bite) surface. They used to do porcelain jacket crowns on the NHS for the front teeth. but the company that made the material for them stopped manufacturing it recently so you have to have porcelain bonded there too. These look opaque and not terribly natural in most cases, so you might be better to go for the private option there. Personally, again, I'd go for the likes of an empress crown, an all ceramic variety which looks quite natural, but not cheap. Probably £300+.

If any of that helps, I'd be surprised, but it was, officially, my 2p worth.

Pars.

 

[mirla]

I'm having a hard time with this question.

Although I know that gold will last longer, one of the reasons I was finally able to get to the dentist was that I want to have a mouth I can be proud of again. Even if they are all in the back, I don't know how proud I could be of 6-7 gold molars. I want to look "normal" if you know what I mean. If half of them were gold, I think I'd feel OK, but for some reason I think I'd still be embarassed to have 6-7.

The crown I'm currently having work done on is the first one behind my bicuspid. You can still see it when I smile big or when I'm talking. I had asked if they would need to take out more tooth material for it to be porcelain and I was told the dentist would have to look at it after the decay was removed. The dentist ended up saying there was plenty of room, so they thought porcelain would work fine for me. I had told them to go ahead then. I was kind of thinking of having porcelain or porcelain with a metal core for anything that they deemed there was enough "room" for, but letting them put gold in wherever there wasn't. But I just admit I don't really know what they mean by "room."

So, did I just get taken for a ride? I want to keep as much tooth structure as possible, and I want to be able to chew with a reasonable expectation that my crown won't shatter. I'm not terribly tough on my teeth -- I didn't chew hard stuff even before my teeth were in bad shape because I don't like the pressure.

I was also told that having a crown break wasn't a big deal. Is that right?

 

[letsconnect]

Not that many dentists would recommend all-porcelain crowns for molars (although some cosmetic dentists do) - maybe she's using CEREC? Or maybe it is a porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crown? If you give us the actual description of what this one shows up as on the bill, it might be easier to comment .
Most people these days go for PFM, because they don't like the look of gold, so you haven't been taken for ride if a natural look is important to you .

 

[mirla]

I'm pretty sure it is the all-porcelain kind. We had discussed all-porcelain, fused (I think), and gold, and somehow fused was dropped in the discussion.

My treatment plan says: "Crown-porcelain/ceramic substr"

The dentist didn't actually recommend porcelain right-out. They had me down for gold and we started talking about it when I was already numbed and drugged and nervous . (Hey, I'm a recovering phobic, I'm not recovered ).

Does the fused end up looking different than procelain? Is there any other reason you might not use fused?

I don't want any dental work for purely cosmetic reasons. I definately don't want to have Hollywood teeth. But if I'm getting work done anyway I'd rather it look like I didn't have any work done, if there's no good reason to not have it done that way. My priorities are dental health, preserving the tooth structure I still have, and looking like I've always been taking care of my teeth, in that order.

I'm already prepped for this crown, which will be placed in four weeks. Should I call the dentist Monday morning and say I want to switch to fused? Or is it too late and I should just ask for fused the next time?

I'm starting to get scared again about dealing with the dentist. because I'm fealing stupid, and like I don't know how to say what I want to say.

I know this site is more about the fear than the actual dentistry. Is there another site that you can recommend that discusses crown and filling materials (that wouldn't send me running for the hills) so I can make informed decisions?

 

[letsconnect]

I'm not 100% sure what substr stands for, Gordon is the guy to ask (dunno if Pars will be around this weekend) - just post in "Your Dentistry Questions Answered". He's actually extremely up-to-date, if that's a concern (only the best for our board...).

If you're in any way worried, I'd give her a call when they're open again (after Easter I suppose), but by then you might have got some answers here, and you'll have a better idea what is going on .