If you want a smile that's your crowning glory, you may need a crown to cover a tooth and restore it to its normal shape and size. A crown can make your tooth stronger and improve its appearance.

It can cover and support a tooth with a large filling when there isn't enough tooth left. It can be used to attach a bridge, protect a weak tooth from breaking or restore one that's already broken. A crown is a good way to cover teeth that are discolored or badly shaped. It's also used to cover a dental implant.

If your dentist recommends a crown, it's probably to correct one of these conditions. Your dentist's primary concern, like yours, is helping you keep your teeth healthy and your smile bright -- literally, your crowning glory.

Since a dental crown cemented into place essentially becomes the new outer surface of the tooth it is easy to imagine how the placement of a crown can restore a tooth to its original shape. Dental crowns are often made for teeth that have worn excessively, have broken, or else have had large portions destroyed by tooth decay.

Conceivably the placement of a dental filling could, as an alternative, be used as a means to restore a tooth's shape. Dental crowns however offer a big advantage to your dentist over dental fillings by way of the fact that they are fabricated "away from your mouth". By this we simply mean that dental crowns are fabricated in a dental laboratory (by a dental technician who uses plaster molds your teeth made by your dentist). Dental fillings, in comparison, are created "in your mouth" by way of your dentist placing the filling material directly upon your tooth. When a dental crown is made the dental laboratory technician can visualize and examine all aspects of your bite and jaw movements, from a variety of angles, and sculpt your dental crown so it has the perfect anatomy. In some cases this anatomy will be even more ideal than your tooth's original shape. When placing a dental filling a dentist has less control over the final outcome of the shape of your tooth because it is often difficult for them to visualize, evaluate, and access to the tooth on which they are working.