Case Background
This patient came to us in early 2010. She had some crowns placed on her front teeth back in 1999. Unfortunately, following a sports injury, the patient fractured the porcelain on both crowns; you can see the cracks quite clearly in the first image.
What We Did
The patient’s injury has unfortunately led to a fracture in the porcelain of both crowns on her upper front teeth. The best solution here is to replace these crowns with new ones.
The patient returned to the clinic a few days later; a pre-operative digital x-ray was taken to ensure that the teeth being worked on were in sound condition and suitable for treatment; photographs were taken and the shade of the teeth was carefully measured before starting treatment. This is one of the most important aspects of the whole procedure. At Shelbourne Clinic, we use colour corrected light (daylight @ 5500K), as well as a digital shade measuring device to help us select the correct shade for our patient. Sometimes, if the case is particularly tricky, we may have the patient visit our dental ceramist to choose the correct shade.
Some dental freeze was applied around the front area and the old crowns were removed to reveal the teeth beneath. The prepared teeth look almost like ‘stumps’;we refer to them as ‘cores’. At this stage, the shade is once more checked and impressions were taken of the prepared teeth.
After taking the impressions, some provisional (temporary) crowns were fitted for the patient and detailed instructions and photographs were provided to our ceramist who will be making the new crowns for our patient.
Two weeks later, the patient returned to us. The provisional crowns were removed and the new crowns were tried in. This is great as it gives both ourselves and the patient the chance to see how they “really look”. The patient was delighted with the colour, shape and texture of her new crowns and so, we used special cement to bond the crowns in place. Further impressions were taken to provide the patient with a protective night guard appliance to help protect her existing teeth and beautiful new crowns.
A few days later, the patient returned to see us to collect her protective night splint. The crowns were given one final check and her teeth were polished; Final photographs were taken.
We are delighted with how the case turned out and hope the patient has many happy years of service from her new crowns!
Number of Visits to Clinic: 4
