Crowns & Onlays

Why would I need a crown or an onlay?

A crown is a shell that goes over the tooth after it has been prepared. Here at LifeSmiles we do the minimum preparation of the tooth we possibly can. This maintains what strength the original tooth still has along with keeping the health of the living part (the pulp) within the tooth. 

An onlay is like a crown because it covers the biting surface of the tooth. However, it doesn’t cover the whole of the tooth so it preserves more tooth tissue. We can place an onlay if the shape of the restoration required allows this. From an engineering point of view, the most important part of an onlay or crown is the biting surface and they both cover the cusps to prevent fracture. We call this “cuspal coverage”. The cusps of teeth easily break because of the forces that chewing puts through them.

This is particularly true if the tooth has a large amalgam filling. We use crowns or onlays to help prevent fracture of cusps or even complete fracture of the tooth leading to extraction.

Teeth that are heavily filled or have a root filling often benefit from the placement of the crown so that the health of the tooth is preserved and the risk of fracture virtually eliminated. Dr Rutland and Dr Stokes will nearly always recommend a crown or onlay after root filling a molar or premolar tooth.

For further information on any of our services or to book an appointment, call 01635 861076