My Dentist Says I Need a Core Buildup for a Crown—What Is It?

A dental crown is a customized restoration worn over an existing tooth. Since crowns provide full coverage, they repair more damage than a filling would. Some of the reasons you’d need a dental crown include: 

• Repair: Is your tooth’s structure significantly damaged by trauma or decay? Functional dental crowns can repair the damage and restore your tooth. As Dr. Kreiner likes to say, getting a dental crown is like peeling a navel orange and giving it a stronger, man-made rind to protect what’s inside.
• Strengthening: A dental crown can help reinforce a weakened tooth after trauma or root canal therapy. 
•  Replace a missing tooth: We can pair dental crowns with bridges and implants to fill gaps left by one or more missing teeth. 
• Aesthetics: Dental crowns can enhance the color, shape, and size of your tooth, making them ideal for improving discolored or misshapen teeth. 

Achieving excellent results with dental crowns requires careful planning and precision. Dr. Kreiner combines clinical experience with advanced technology to achieve beautiful, functional, and durable results. Our patients are thrilled with the results, and we are confident we’ll exceed your expectations. 

Placing a dental veneer requires removing some enamel on the front side. However, teeth preparation for a crown is a bit different. Since it covers your entire tooth, we remove enamel from all sides of your tooth. This creates a solid foundation to accommodate the crown’s hollow shape. 

Sometimes, there’s never enough remaining structure to support your crown. This can occur because of severe decay, large fillings, or trauma. In such cases, you need a core buildup to create a solid foundation for your crown. 

This process starts by removing decayed or weakened parts of the tooth. Then, a strong, biocompatible composite material is placed to rebuild the structure. The material is carefully shaped to resemble your natural tooth, providing a solid base for the future crown. We always offer a solution even when you think your tooth is beyond help.

Our office uses full-strength, durable adhesives to secure crowns for optimal stability and long-lasting results. Still, a dental crown can occasionally loosen or fall off, though it isn’t common. A crown may fail because of trauma, tooth decay under the crown, or if the cement holding it weakens over time.

A loose or dislodged crown is a dental emergency. The underlying tooth is exposed to harmful bacteria, damage, and extreme temperatures without protection. This not only causes pain but can also result in tooth loss. 

When you arrive at our office, we’ll inspect your crown and determine if it can be re-cemented or needs replacement. The objective is to restore your smile effectively but affordably.