A Case of Front All-Ceramic Crown Retreatment

Hello. I am Park Jonguk, DDS, MS, director of Dream Dental Clinic near Apgujeong Station.

How long do all-ceramic crowns or laminate veneers last??

It truly varies from case to case.

The answer differs greatly depending on the circumstances.

In general, an all-ceramic crown that covers the entire tooth

is considered to last longer than a laminate veneer, which bonds a thin layer of ceramic only to the front surface.

That is the general view.

However, more than the treatment method itself,

factors such as the bite and eating habits have a greater influence.

For molars, chewing food is a more important function than appearance.

They therefore require a stronger material.

For front teeth, appearance is more important than chewing,

so we use ceramics that can reproduce more refined esthetic details rather than simply choosing the strongest material.

Because front teeth are subjected to less force than molars,

using a less strong material does not necessarily shorten their lifespan.

As mentioned earlier,

the bite relationship between the upper and lower teeth is extremely important.

If the front teeth bear more force during eating than they are meant to handle, their lifespan will naturally be shorter.

How the bite is adjusted is therefore very important.

The bite can cause a front tooth to fracture like this.

The 2 front teeth already had all-ceramic crowns.

You can see fractures at the edges of both a crown and a natural tooth.

There were also several esthetic concerns.

The gumline was asymmetrical and looked unnatural.

Although the fractured area was a concern,

the 2 front teeth were also asymmetrical.

Even without the fracture, the teeth differed considerably in size.

To address these esthetic concerns, we decided to retreat the front all-ceramic crowns

and treat the adjacent lateral incisors with laminate veneers.

First, we removed the crowns for the front all-ceramic crown retreatment.

Very little tooth structure remained.

It appears that one front tooth may originally have protruded,

and the other may have been crowned after a traumatic fracture.

We made provisional restorations to correct the gumline.

After gum contouring, we waited for the gumline to stabilize around the provisional restorations.

We usually wait at least 2 weeks.

The provisional restorations must therefore fit very precisely at the gumline.

This was the condition of the gums when the provisional restorations were removed after 2 weeks.

You can see that the gumline was symmetrical and had healed very cleanly.

With the gums in this improved condition, we took impressions and began fabricating the ceramic restorations for the front all-ceramic crown retreatment and the laminate veneers.

The goal of laminate veneers and all-ceramic restorations at Dream Dental Clinic is

the beauty of natural teeth.

We aim for attractive teeth that resemble natural teeth,

rather than an awkward or artificial appearance.

Natural translucency and shade are important to us.

In the contour of the teeth as well,

natural three-dimensional form is extremely important.

Gum health also matters.

Rather than simply removing gum tissue excessively,

waiting for the gums to stabilize around provisional restorations

is a very important part of the process.

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic