Same-Day Porcelain Crowns With No Temporary to Wear
Your crown is designed, made and fitted in one visit
We make porcelain crowns the same day, in the office. A digital scan replaces the tray of impression material, software designs the crown against your own bite, and the finished porcelain is bonded on before you leave. No temporary crown to baby for two weeks. No second appointment.
Not every tooth is a candidate — and we will tell you which before we start.
When do you need a dental crown?
A crown covers the whole visible part of a tooth. It is the right repair when there is not enough solid tooth left to hold a filling. The usual reasons:
- A cracked or broken tooth. The crown wraps the tooth and takes chewing pressure off the crack.
- A large old filling that is failing. Big fillings flex with years of chewing, and the tooth around them can chip or leak.
- After a root canal. A treated back tooth is more brittle and usually needs a crown so it does not split.
- A cavity too large to fill. Once decay reaches the corners of the tooth, a filling has nothing solid to hold on to.
- Worn or ground-down teeth. Years of clenching flatten the biting surfaces, and crowns can rebuild the height you have lost.
- An old crown that is loose, leaking or dark at the gumline.
If a smaller repair will do the job, we will say so. Sometimes a dental onlay or a bonded filling keeps more of your own tooth, and that is the better outcome.
What happens at a same-day crown appointment?
A same-day crown appointment runs from the first look to the bonded porcelain in one sitting, in this order:
- We look first. Digital X-rays and the intra-oral camera show you the crack or the failing filling in full color.
- We numb the tooth. Nitrous oxide is available if you would rather float through the appointment.
- We shape the tooth. Old filling material and any decay come out, and the tooth is trimmed so the crown seats over it.
- We scan. A small camera traces the tooth and your bite, so there is no tray of impression material to hold still.
- We design and make the crown. The porcelain is shaped to your bite and shaded to the teeth on either side.
- We fit and bond it. We check the bite, adjust the contacts and polish. Then a warm towel, and you are done.
Plan on one appointment of, and eat something beforehand.
How long does a porcelain crown last?
How long a porcelain crown lasts depends far more on the tooth and gum underneath it than on the porcelain itself. A crown that is flossed daily, checked at every cleaning and protected from grinding can serve you for years. What cuts one short is almost always the same short list: decay at the margin where crown meets tooth, gum disease loosening the support beneath, and night-time clenching.
Looking after a new crown
- Floss it like a natural tooth. The margin at the gumline is where trouble begins.
- Keep your cleaning appointments so we can check that margin while a problem is small.
- Ice, pens and popcorn kernels break crowns the same way they break teeth.
- If you grind or clench, ask about a night guard.
- Call us if the bite feels tall or the tooth stays sensitive after a few days. That is usually a quick adjustment.
Broke a tooth today?
Call the office and we will accommodate you as soon as possible. If the office is closed when you call, you will receive specific instructions on how to obtain emergency advice or care. In the event of a life-threatening emergency, please call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room.
Book a crown appointment in Gig Harbor
Call North Harbor Dentistry at (253) 851-4025 and tell us which tooth is bothering you. Drs. Matt & Justine Priess will look at it and tell you plainly whether it needs a crown. We are at 14315 62nd Ave NW in Gig Harbor, and we serve Purdy, Key Center, Fox Island and Port Orchard. Walk-ins are welcome.