Cheongdam-dong Dental Clinic Recommendation: Retreating an Old All-Ceramic Crown

Hello.

I'm Park Jonguk, director of Dream Dental Clinic, a recommended dental clinic in Cheongdam-dong.

The weather is getting colder. Though for mid-November, I wonder if it's not quite as cold as usual.

Still, there was no CSAT cold snap this year. I wish everyone who took the CSAT continued growth in the next stage of their journey.

Today's topic is the retreatment of all-ceramic crowns.

Every dental treatment has a lifespan.

When implants were first introduced in Korea,

the term "semi-permanent" was used quite often.

But as 10 and then 20 years passed, we came to realize they weren't actually semi-permanent.

Even dentists once believed implants were truly semi-permanent,

but clinically, the current conclusion is that this isn't the case.

The same is true for all-ceramic crowns or veneers on front teeth.

Their lifespan will be somewhat longer than for molars,

but they can't be permanent.

So whether it's 10 years or 15 years, once time passes,

retreatment inevitably becomes necessary.

The reasons for retreatment vary from case to case.

Chipping, debonding, an unattractive shape, changes in the gums, shifting alignment...

Retreatment happens for all sorts of reasons like these.

It's something I feel every time I perform a retreatment,

but the first treatment has to be done right.

At a clinic recommended in Cheongdam-dong,

if the first treatment isn't done properly,

retreatment isn't easy either.

The patient had received all-ceramic crown treatment on four front teeth a long time ago.

Dental materials keep advancing.

In the past, even for front teeth like these,

PFM or PFG crowns were commonly used, with metal on the inside and only the outer surface tooth-colored.

These days, crowns made entirely of ceramic, with no metal at all, are used much more often.

Since the whole crown is ceramic, it's called an all-ceramic crown.

Zirconia is now widely used as the material for all-ceramic crowns.

As more translucent-looking zirconia has become available recently,

it's now being used actively for front teeth.

In this case,

the teeth were far too opaque, with a cramped-looking shape,

and there was severe asymmetry between the two sides.

Years of use had caused gum recession, exposing part of the tooth surface as well.

Since this was done long ago, back when even zirconia only came in opaque materials,

it looked almost nothing like a natural tooth.

We removed the crowns.

The tooth underneath had discolored to nearly black.

Root canal treatment can cause discoloration depending on the materials used.

The discoloration here was quite severe.

This kind of discoloration doesn't stay only on the visible part,

but also occurs down at the root.

When discoloration at the tooth root shows through the gum, it makes the gum look dark.

We try to restore as much of the tooth's natural color as possible through whitening,

but there's inevitably a limit.

That's why, at a clinic recommended in Cheongdam-dong,

the first treatment has to be done right.

First, it's best to avoid root canal treatment altogether if possible.

And if it is needed, materials and methods that cause less discoloration should be used.

A tooth that's had root canal treatment can't be kept from discoloring entirely,

but there are still methods and materials that cause less discoloration.

The feel of a natural tooth

is determined by the tooth's color, surface texture, shape, translucency, and more.

The younger the tooth, the stronger its sense of translucency,

and among that, the tip of the tooth is especially translucent.

The surface texture also has more pronounced texture the younger the tooth is,

and the tooth color is bright.

While bringing out this feel of a young, natural tooth as much as possible,

we also express the bright look of beautiful teeth.

The crowns are made to match symmetry as closely as possible.

Comparing before and after,

you can see a dramatic improvement.

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic