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Case 6 – All Ceramic Crown

Case Background

This lady attended Dr. Kelly at our clinic a few week ago. As a young adult, she had suffered trauma to an upper front incisor tooth. The tooth was filled and re-filled several times over a 15 year period. The filling is dark in colour and the surface is dull and lifeless looking. The patient is understandibly unhappy with the appearance of the tooth. She tells us that she avoids smiling in photographs and it has now reached the point where she tends to cover her mouth with her hand when speaking and meeting with new people – she is terribly self conscious and now wants to look at sorting out the dark tooth.

What We Did

After discussing the various options with the patient, we decided that the ideal solution here would be placement of an all ceramic crown to restore tooth shape, colour and character. The patient was happy to proceed, so a thorough clinical assessment was carried out, a pre-operative digital x-ray and digital photographs were taken.

Initial Appearance of the dark tooth.
Careful assessment of tooth shade was carried out. Photographs are taken of the prepared tooth. The ceramist must be given as much information as possible so that the nicest result can be achieved.
Local anaesthetic is given around the tooth and the preparation is made to allow adequate space for a new Procera crown here. Impressions are made and a provisional crown is fitted in place while the permanent crown is being constructed. This takes approximately 2-3 weeks to complete.

Core Shade Analysis

Core Shade Analysis
Detailed Shade Analysis and Fabrication of Lab Prescription
Details records of the tooth are prepared. Many factors are considered included tooth colour (hue, value and chroma), anatomy, characterisations etc. These are all conveyed to the ceramist who takes everything into consideration when making the new crown. 

In some situations, we will have the ceramist see the patient in person just prior to making the crown. Thankfully, with advances in technology and through the use of colour corrected lighting and digital photography, we are often able to avoid this extra step.

Crown Back from Lab.
The crown is returned from the lab 2-3 weeks later and it is checked and prepared prior to bonding in place.

Crown Bonded in Place.
We use special cement to bond the crown in place. This photograph was taken immediately after cementation of the crown. It is usually best to take final photographs 1-2 weeks after placement to allow the gum margins to settle around the crown.

Final Result.
As you can see, we managed to achieve a superb result here and the patient was delighted with her new crown. 

Our sincere thanks to Gary from Swift Ceramics for the wonderful laboratory work carried out here. Crowns like this take considerable skill and require a talented ceramist to achieve such results.

Number of Visits to Clinic: 2

Very professional, with modern equipment and fantastic staff. Dr. Kelly is informative, patient and has a 'light hand', you don't really feel you're going to a dentist. They are very fair and correct also - I first went to Shelbourne Clinic to do a cosmetic procedure of about 4,000 EUR that was highly recommended by a dentist in another country. Dr. Kelly patiently explained with facts why I will have problems with it after few years and recommended not to do it, although he could have simply done it and bill me instead. Very professional and looking after patient's interests!

Mihaela Lungu

Fantastic place to go especially if you're a nervous patient. I felt so happy after my visit with Dr Mark Kelly as he has a wonderful pleasant manner and he is very thorough and professional. I would highly recommend visiting Shelbourne Dental Clinic!

Kelly-Marie B

I have been a patient of Mark Kelly for the last 4 years and am sad I cannot take him with me to the USA, where I will be moving. Mark is the best and friendliest dentist I have had in my life and my teeth are in tip-top shape because of his care.

Jordy S

Dr Mark Kelly's professionalism and expertise combined with a highly skilled team working in a state of the art clinic makes going to the dentist a very enjoyable experience!

Miriam F

Everyone I've been treated by there - Mark, Karl, Daisy, Antoinette, Joanne, and Aishling, have been so positive, professional, friendly, and genuinely caring.

Rebecca W