Dental crowns provide support for teeth that have been worn down by decay, teeth grinding, or other accidents. Many patients choose porcelain dental crowns because they are both durable and beautiful. These are the steps that you can expect to undergo during a porcelain dental crown installation:

1. Cavity Treatment

Many people seek dental crowns due to tooth decay. It's common for cavity treatment to precede the installation of dental crowns. If you require a root canal or dental filling, your dentist will perform these restorative treatments before placing your dental crown. If you need specialist care, as is common in the case of root canals, your dentist may refer you to an outside provider before having you return to their office for your dental crown installation.

2. Dental Impressions

Dental crowns must fit perfectly in a patient's mouth to facilitate biting, chewing, speaking, and smiling. A poorly fitting dental crown can cause pain and even damage to the surrounding teeth. That's why your dentist will take impressions of your bite before performing additional work on your tooth. These impressions will be sent to a lab where they will be used to create a custom porcelain dental crown for you.

3. Tooth Shaping

After your dentist has recorded the way your teeth fit together, they will move on to the tooth-shaping stage of the dental crown process. During this stage, your dentist will use a dental drill to reduce the size of your tooth in order to make room for your new porcelain crown. Although your dentist will reduce the enamel of your tooth, they will leave the interior pulp and nerve of your tooth intact.

4. Temporary Crown Installation

The process of tooth shaping for the purpose of installing dental crowns removes a significant portion of the tooth enamel. This means that your prepared tooth will need to be carefully protected until your porcelain crown can be put in place. Your dentist will attach a temporary crown to your tooth at the end of your first dental crown appointment. You can perform some light chewing with a temporary dental crown, but you should be careful not to eat crunchy or sticky foods to avoid damaging or dislodging the temporary crown.

5. Permanent Crown Installation

It's common for dental crowns to be installed over the course of two appointments. This gives your dentist time to have your porcelain dental crown custom-made. When you arrive at your dentist's office to have your permanent porcelain dental crown installed, your dentist will remove the temporary crown from your tooth, then thoroughly clean your tooth before attaching the crown with a permanent bonding adhesive.