Okemos, Lansing, East Lansing MI
If a dentist says you need a crown, unfortunately, they’re not talking about the royal kind. But when you look at the price tag for a dental crown, you may begin to wonder …
A dental crown is a premier way for dentists to repair and restore teeth. Crowns, for instance, can cover teeth that are stained beyond the ability to be whitened by conventional methods. But far more often than that, they are used to prevent tooth loss by holding together teeth that have been badly damaged or are otherwise in danger of breaking and falling out. They’re also the crown jewel — no pun intended — of dental implants and bridges!
As useful as they are for repairing and restoring teeth, crowns are costly, running between $500 to $3,000 per crown. Sometimes that gives people sticker shock and leaves them wondering: Why are crowns so expensive?
Material costs
Crowns can be made from a wide range of materials, including:
- Metal — Typically made of gold, platinum, nickel-chromium, or cobalt-chromium alloys, metal crowns are the most durable and least expensive of all crowns. A crown usually lasts 5-15 years with metal at the higher end of that range. Most times, metal crowns are used only in the back of the mouth since there’s no way to make a metal crown look like a natural tooth.
- Porcelain — Far more suitable for the front of the mouth and for folks with a metal allergy, porcelain crowns most closely resemble a natural tooth. They are on the more expensive side, however, and are also less durable than other types of crowns.
- Porcelain fused to metal (PFM) — Featuring a metal crown that’s topped by porcelain, this is the best of both worlds with the durability of metal and the beauty of porcelain. Depending on the metal used, some PFMs can be less expensive than some metal crowns! But they’re also known to show metal lines at the gum line, and they carry the same risks of metal allergies as metal crowns do.
- Zirconium Dioxide — Long lasting and durable — and with much of the same visual appeal as porcelain — zirconium dioxide crowns carry no risk of allergic reactions to metal. While they are more durable than porcelain, they are more expensive than metal or PFM crowns.
- Lithium Disilicate glass (E. Max.) — Like Zirconium, E. Max is more expensive than porcelain, metal and PFM, and while it is more translucent, this limits its use to correct badly stained teeth.
Fabrication
In addition to being made with special materials, crowns have to be custom-fabricated, leading to laboratory expenses. Some dentist offices have the ability to fabricate crowns in the office using computer-assisted models and 3-D printing. But this results in increased office expenses.
Multiple appointments
In addition to creating an impression for the crown, the dentist must prepare the tooth for the crown’s application. This involves reshaping the tooth to make sure the crown has room to fit, taking X-rays, and applying an anesthetic. If the dentist does not have the technology for in-office crown creation, the affected tooth will need a temporary crown, and the patient will have to return for the finished crown. If a dentist can make the crown in-house, then placing a crown may not require multiple appointments, but the materials cost still adds up on the office bill. Bottom line: Even when crowns are not part of other, often costly, dental procedures such as implants, bridges or root canals, their installation still requires a time-intensive process.
Dental Crowns in East Lansing and Okemos
For all these reasons, crowns are — simply put — expensive. But since they can last up to 15 years depending on the material used and care, they’re well worth the investment. To learn more, reach out to us at Tenaglia Smiles by calling (517) 940-8684, or send us a message online today.