Two visits, about two weeks apart
About an hour in the chair. Zirconia or e.max ceramic, color matched to the teeth beside it, and built to last 10–15 years.
Dental Crowns
Custom ceramic crowns, made to match.
A dental crown is a custom cap that covers a whole tooth when a filling is not enough. At Harborview Dental Care in Palm Harbor, a crown takes two visits about two weeks apart. We prep the tooth and fit a temporary, then seat the finished ceramic crown.
What happens at each visit?
- INumbchecked twice before we start
- IIPrepabout an hour in the chair
- IIIMatchshade picked beside your teeth
- IVTemporaryyou go home wearing one
- VSeatthe custom crown, two weeks on
Before You Decide
Is a crown the right fix?
A filling replaces a small piece of a tooth. It works well for a modest cavity, a lost filling, or a rough edge, and it goes in and out in one visit. A crown covers the whole tooth instead of patching part of it. That is the better answer when a tooth is cracked, worn down, or already carrying so much old filling material that there isn’t much natural structure left to hold onto. Dr. Snyder will show you what she is seeing and explain why one option makes more sense than the other. You can read about the full range of repairs on our restorative dentistry page.
Zirconia or e.max, both ceramics, both chosen for strength and for how they handle light. Zirconia is the tougher of the two and tends to go on back teeth that take the heaviest bite. E.max is prized for how closely it reads as enamel, which matters more toward the front of the mouth. Either way the crown is custom made and color matched, so it should sit quietly next to the teeth beside it rather than announcing itself.
Usually, yes. A root canal takes the infected tissue out of the middle of the tooth and ends the pain, but the tooth that is left is hollower and more brittle than it was. A crown caps it so it can go back to chewing without splitting. That’s why root canal therapy is normally finished with a crown rather than left as it is.
Yes. An implant is really two pieces. A titanium post takes the place of the root and fuses with the jawbone over a few months, and a custom shaded porcelain crown goes on top of it. The crown is the part you see and chew with. If you’re replacing a missing tooth rather than saving a damaged one, start on our dental implants page instead.
Ten to fifteen years is the usual range. What decides where you land in it is mostly the gum line, since a crown can only stay sound if the tooth underneath it does. Brushing, flossing around the margin, and keeping up with cleanings do more for a crown than anything else. If you grind at night, mention it. Grinding is hard on ceramic, and it is one of the things we look at during a routine preventive visit.
You’re numb before anything starts, and we check it twice rather than taking your word for a nod. Numbness lasts two to four hours after most visits, so plan on a soft lunch and no hot coffee for the rest of the afternoon.
FAQ
Crown questions, answered.
It depends on the tooth, the material, and what your plan covers, so we’d rather give you a real number than a range that turns out to be wrong. Call the office at (727) 502-6667 and we’ll walk you through it. We verify your benefits before treatment begins, and we offer Cherry and CareCredit along with monthly payment plans. The details live on our finance plans page, and if you don’t carry dental insurance, ask about Smile Club membership.
Crowns are usually treated as a major service rather than a preventive one, which means most plans cover part of the cost rather than all of it. We accept most PPO plans and select Medicare plans. We’re not contracted with any HMO or Medicaid programs. Before treatment starts we verify what your plan will actually pay, so the estimate you sign is the one you can count on. See the accepted insurances page for the full picture.
Call us. It’s not an emergency in the frightening sense, but a temporary is doing a job and the tooth should not be left uncovered for long. Keep the temporary if you still have it, hold onto it, and reach us at (727) 502-6667 so we can tell you what to do next and when to come in. Our hours are Monday to Friday, 8AM to 4PM, with Saturday by appointment.
Mostly. A temporary is held on with a softer cement than the final crown, because it’s designed to come off cleanly at the second visit. The usual advice is to chew on the other side where you can, go easy on anything sticky or very hard, and slide the floss out sideways rather than snapping it up past the crown. Dr. Snyder will give you the specifics for your tooth before you leave.
About two weeks is the normal gap between the two visits, and the reason is simply that a custom crown takes time to make properly. The temporary carries you through it comfortably. If you have a wedding, a trip, or anything else the timing has to work around, mention it when you book so we can look at the timing with you.
We see patients age seven and up. If you have a younger child who needs a tooth looked at, call and we’ll point you to a good pediatric dentist nearby.
Yes, and we’d encourage it. Dr. Snyder offers a free thirty minute consultation. No treatment happens that day. It’s a conversation about the tooth, the options, and what the plan would look like, and you’re free to go home and think about it. Our office is at 34669 US Hwy 19 N in Palm Harbor. You can book online or get in touch here, and you can fill out your patient forms before you come in.
Book a Visit
Ready to fix that tooth?
Come in and we will look at it, tell you what we see, and give you the number before anything starts.
Prefer to call? (727) 502-6667
Reviewed by Dr. Rita Snyder, DMD, Harborview Dental Care. Last reviewed