Once a dentist suggests the need for a dental crown, the next line of questions is how much it costs. However, there are several materials used in making dental crowns like porcelain, metal, and gold. Crowns formed using zirconium are becoming increasingly common because they offer high advantages.
Knowing what a Zirconium crown is, what it offers, and its cost might help you consider it as an option when you finally decide to get a dental crown. To get one for yourself, you can visit smiles by design dental.
What Are Zirconium Crowns?
Zirconium crowns are made of zirconium dioxide, a white-powdered ceramic material that is very durable. The ceramic properties make it a strong dental prosthetic.
Zirconium crowns also have a natural white coloring that allows them to match effortlessly with your natural tooth. It has varying levels of translucency, which will enable your dentist to pick the perfect match for you.
Why Zirconium crown?
Zirconium combines the aesthetics of porcelain with the strength of the metal. Layered and translucent Zirconium has become a more wanted choice lately for crowns. Major benefits of Zirconium crowns are highlighted below.
Strength And Longevity
A big advantage of the Zirconium crown is its strength and durability. It is strong and resistant to chipping or breaking, making it a good choice for your back-most molars in case of chewing. It also makes them a hardier option than porcelain or ceramic crowns.
It has also been shown to offer longevity as other dental crowns do, especially metal-based crowns. Their strength also allows the dentist to prepare less for your tooth before placement.
Aesthetically Pleasing
Due to the white coloring of zirconium, it mimics the natural teeth making them aesthetically pleasing. It allows you to smile without the self-consciousness of it being obvious, like gold or silver or any other metal, especially if it’s on your front teeth.
Absolute Biocompatibility
They offer a high level of biocompatibility, unlike other dental crowns meaning it’s unlikely for it to be rejected by your body. They are less likely to cause allergies or provoke the body to produce immunological responses like inflammation or any other kind of toxic reaction.
They can provide optical mechanics and potentially last a long time requiring less tooth removal like other dental crowns.
Single-Visit Procedure
Another advantage of a Zirconium crown is that the dentist has the available technology in his office to make the crowns immediately rather than sending an impression of your tooth to a lab to have the dental crown made.
The computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) or computer-aided design (CAD) speeds up the process, and the dentist makes use of a dental milling machine to make the crown from a block of zirconia. These make it possible for your crown to be placed in your mouth in a single visit and one appointment, not two.
What Is The Cost Of Getting A Zirconium Crown?
Dental crowns are generally very pricey, typically costing between $600 to $1500 per tooth on average. This might be a result of the difficulty in the procedure, location of the crown being placed, oral health, and material being used.
Zirconium crowns cost significantly more than any other dental crowns. They can cost between $900 to $2900, including placement fees per tooth on average. The region and experience of your dentist also affect the price.
Your insurance company could also determine if the cost will be lesser. They may decide to cover the cost or not depending on if they decide your crown is medically necessary instead of entirely cosmetic.
When Do You Need To Get A Zirconium Crown?
There are various reasons you may need a zirconium crown placed on your tooth. They include
- To reshape or protect a tooth in case of a root canal.
- To provide a covering for a cracked or chipped tooth
- For covering a dental implant
- To fill a space or gap caused by a missing tooth
- To form a bridge
- To cover a hole that is too big for filling caused by a cavity.
Though more expensive than other dental crowns, Zirconium crowns can still save you money because they may not often need replacement like other crowns. So, if you finally decide to get a dental crown, considering a zirconium crown is not a bad idea.
When getting a zirconium crown, always do your best to register with the best dentist you can find. You don’t want to work with an inexperienced dentist no matter how low the price they are offering is.