What is the function of the dental crown?

A crown covers, reinforces and protects the top and sides of a tooth. It allows the tooth to continue to perform its function to support processing food being eaten. The tooth needing the crown has most likely been damaged as a result of decay or misadventure (broken in an accident).

Crown used to be made of gold but as gold has become very expensive crowns are normally made of stainless steel. Some crowns are also made of synthetic materials if they are not in stressful situations such as grinding and mashing food.

Because the gold and stainless steel can be unsightly, many are made with a ceramic coating to give it the color of the surrounding teeth.