Pediatric Dental Crowns

Crowns are a restorative procedure used to improve a tooth’s shape or to strengthen a tooth due to lack of solid tooth structure. Crowns are most often used if your child has a tooth that is broken, worn, malformed, or damaged by tooth decay so severely that it cannot hold a filling.

A crown is a “cap” cemented onto an existing tooth that usually covers the portion of the tooth above the gum line. In effect, the crown becomes the tooth’s new outer surface. Pediatric crowns are generally made of stainless steel or zirconia.

*Please ask your dentist if you would like to know which crown material they feel is best for your child’s tooth. Each instance may be different.

Non Invasive “Hall” Method for Stainless Steel Crowns

If a tooth has a smaller cavity and it is asymptomatic, it may be able to be restored non-invasively without numbing or drilling with a stainless steel crown.

This usually requires two steps:

1) Spacers are placed around the tooth to make room for the SSC and left in place for 5-7 days.
2) The stainless steel crown is fitted and sealed with a glass ionomer cement that leaches fluoride into the tooth to kill germs and prevent cavity growth.

Zirconia Crowns

We are a provider of prefabricated “tooth colored” zirconia crowns. They are created from a solid block of zirconia, much like highly aesthetic crowns made for adults. When milled from a solid block, zirconia is more durable and stronger than other types of ceramic crowns. The smoothness of zirconia also minimizes wear and tear on the adjacent teeth.

• Safe: 100% biocompatible—free of all metals, including nickel, which is commonly used in stainless steel crowns—to eliminate adverse allergic reactions or side effects.
• Aesthetic: They have a realistic color that allows them to visually blend in with surrounding natural teeth. Each crown is glazed with a hint of natural color, making them very smooth, shiny, and resistant to staining and plaque buildup.
• Strong: They are made of solid, monolithic Zirconia, a ceramic material time-tested for its strength and durability in adult dentistry.

Cons for Zirconia Crowns compared to stainless steel crowns:

• They take more time to prep and fit which some children cannot tolerate.
• They require more removal of tooth structure and take longer for bites to adjust after treatment especially if multiple crowns are placed.
• They are harder to place side by side due to lack of flexibility in the material.
• They are more expensive and may not be covered by dental insurance.
• Due to being a newer technology, there are fewer long-term studies of their efficacy.