Your Dental Crown Procedure: What To Expect

Your oral care provider might recommend getting a dental crown for a few different reasons:

• Protecting a decayed or damaged tooth
• Covering a tooth mostly covered with a filling
• Securing a dental bridge
• Covering a discoloured or misshapen tooth
• Protecting a dental implant
• Covering a tooth that’s undergone a root canal

The dental crown procedure typically happens over the course of two appointments. You might be wondering: does a dental crown hurt? While you may experience some sensitivity, your dentist will likely give you an anaesthetic, just like they would with a filling.

Your first appointment: Your oral care provider will examine the tooth and prepare it for a crown. They’ll also take X-rays of the tooth and surrounding bone and file down the tooth. The amount of filing will depend on the type of crown you’re receiving—for instance, metal crowns do not need as much tooth removed as porcelain crowns. In some cases, you might need a root canal if there is a risk of infection, tooth decay, or injury to the tooth’s nerves or blood vessels (also known as pulp).

Once the tooth is filed down and ready, your oral care provider will make an impression of the tooth that’s receiving the crown using paste. They will also take an impression of the teeth above the crown, so the crown can fit correctly with your bite. At this point, the impression is sent to a lab to create the crown, which takes about two to three weeks. Your dentist will give you a temporary crown to wear to protect your teeth between your first and second visit. 

Your second appointment: Now it’s time to get your crown placed. Your oral care provider will remove your temporary crown, check the colour, shape, and fit of your new crown, and permanently cement it in place. They might use a numbing agent to ensure you’re as comfortable as possible.

Some dental practices might offer a same-day dental crown placement through computer-aided design (CAD). In this case, instead of taking X-rays, sending them to a lab, and waiting a few weeks, a scanning device takes images of your tooth, and the software uses these images to make a 3D model of your tooth. The software then sends the model to a machine that carves the crown out of ceramic in about 15 minutes. Once it’s ready, your oral care provider can cement it.

The recovery process should be relatively short, as you’re mostly dealing with any irritation or inflammation resulting from the procedure. Your oral care provider should provide you with after-care tips. The tooth might feel different after the procedure, as it might have a slightly different shape than your original tooth. But don’t worry—this is normal, and your crowned tooth should be feeling normal after a few days. If your bite does not feel comfortable after a few days or you feel that you’re having dental crown procedure pain, reach out to your oral care provider so that they can examine it and make any adjustments.