What are temporary crowns?
As their name suggests, temporary crowns are crowns that come to our aid during prosthetic treatments where for various reasons we need to prepare (grind) the teeth to cover them later with definitive crowns made of various materials (ceramic, zirconia ceramic, monolithic zirconia, or metal-ceramic). Thus, after grinding the teeth, they can be covered with temporary crowns until the next treatment session.
The advantages of temporary crowns:
- Probably the first advantage appreciated by patients is restoring the aesthetic aspect of the ground tooth. The patient leaves our office relieved because they can smile and resume their social activities without the psychological discomfort created by the presence of ground teeth;
- Restores chewing comfort. Between treatment sessions, the patient can consume food normally because the efficiency of chewing is unaffected thanks to the temporary crowns. This is most strongly felt in cases where there are many ground teeth, which complicates chewing for patients due to the lack of contact between teeth. With the help of temporary crowns, patients will not swallow partially chewed food. However, it should be mentioned that hard foods should be avoided at this stage, as they can lead to the fracture of the temporary crown material;
- Protects the teeth from thermal and chemical stimuli and prevents the occurrence of caries and nerve inflammation. Often, ground teeth are vital (with living nerves), and although tooth grinding is done under anesthesia, after the anesthesia wears off, the teeth may become sensitive to cold, heat, sweet, sour. Being unprotected and exposed to saliva and bacteria in the oral cavity, nerve inflammation or dental caries may occur, which can attack the covered tooth in the long run;
- Guides and helps gingival healing from the tooth grinding phase to the impression of the prepared tooth;
- Maintains the gums in their physiological position, otherwise, the gums tend to collapse or grow excessively between treatment sessions, with the risk of pain or bleeding when applying the definitive crown to the tooth;
- Protects the gums from food impact. When a ground tooth remains exposed, hard foods are pushed towards the gums during chewing, often causing gum lesions. A temporary crown ensures that food is projected away from the gums;
- Provides the possibility of unaltered speech, especially in cases where ground teeth are in the front area. Without temporary crowns, the patient risks having a lisping speech because some vowels are articulated by the contact that the lips and tongue make with the edge of the upper teeth;
- Other technical advantages would be that they provide the most relevant indicator for the dentist regarding the space available in the bite for the future definitive crown. Thus, the dentist can expose to the patient what type of material is suitable for the area where the definitive crown will be applied. In a small space, crowns made of a single material such as zirconia are indicated, while in the posterior area, all-ceramic crowns are indicated. In situations where space allows, crowns with a metal core covered with ceramic physiognomic material can be applied.
How are temporary crowns made?
There are two types of temporary crowns - those made directly in the office and those made in the dental laboratory.
Temporary crowns made by the dentist in the office are suitable when the tooth to be ground initially has an intact shape. An impression will be taken from silicone material before grinding the tooth, and after grinding the tooth, the dentist will inject self-curing acrylic into the impression (which hardens by itself) and will apply the mold on the teeth, so the material will take the shape of the ground stump and will have the initial shape of the tooth on the exterior. After finishing the temporary crown, it is temporarily glued to the teeth and can be removed and reapplied in the following sessions.
If there are multiple teeth that need to be covered with temporaries, the patient wants temporary crowns made of more resistant and aesthetic material, or the initial case does not allow taking an impression for the direct technique in the office, the dentist can grind the teeth, after which will take an impression of the ground teeth sent to the dental technician. The technician pours a plaster model on which they will make the temporary crowns. The downside of this technique is the slightly higher cost and the fact that the patient will be without temporaries for 2-3 days until the technician makes the temporaries in the laboratory. However, the advantage is that of a much-improved aesthetic aspect and more resistant material, recommended in complex cases where patients need to wear temporary crowns for long periods to adjust the bite, to solve certain problems of the temporomandibular joint, or in cases where gingival surgery is also required, in which temporary crowns play a crucial role.
