Dental Crowns in Mill Creek, MA

Is one of your teeth damaged? Does it have a crack? Is it broken in some other way? Or do you have a few damaged teeth?

In some cases, we can fix, strengthen, and protect a damaged tooth using a dental crown. A crown is a custom-created cap that covers the top and sides of a tooth. It creates a new chewing surface and prevents the damage from spreading. Call 425-357-6400 today to schedule a dental crown consultation with Dr. Darren Greenhalgh!

Dental Crowns Before And After


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What are the advantages of Dental Crowns?

It’s almost always better to save your natural tooth instead of replacing it. Saving your natural tooth also saves you time, money, and hassle. A dental crown can cover your damaged tooth and keep it safe for many more years.

Dental crowns can also keep bacteria away from the damaged area of a tooth. When you have a crack or break in your tooth, food and bacteria can get into it to cause an infection. We’ll clean your tooth, prepare it, and cover it with a crown to protect it from infection and further damage.

Once you have a customized crown in place, you’ll be able to chew normally again. If you have had any pain or problems from your damaged tooth or teeth, imagine what a relief that will be!

Who Is a Good Candidate for a Dental Crown?

If you have a tooth with serious decay, a deep crack, a large chip, or a previous large filling surrounded by new decay, a crown can save the tooth and return strength and function. If you’ve had a root canal on a tooth, especially a molar, you’ll probably need a crown placed on the tooth to protect it and return strength.

Crowns can also provide an aesthetic solution, covering a misshapen tooth or a tooth with deep staining or trauma. Also, if you’re looking to use a bridge to replace two or three teeth in a row, crowns will be used as anchors on the healthy teeth on both sides of the gap.

Dental Crowns in One Sitting!

Because we use a CEREC system, we can create your dental crown in one appointment! In the old days, it took much longer to send dental impressions to a lab and wait for the lab to create crowns.

Now, though, we can create digital impressions of your teeth, design your crown, and send the design to our own machine in our office. It will create your customized crown while you’re still in the chair.

Then, we can place that new crown on your tooth. Before you go, we’ll make sure it fits and works properly, as well as making sure it looks great. We use strong materials like porcelain that look and function like natural tooth enamel for a great result every time!

At the end of your appointment, we aim to have your new crown bonded permanently to your tooth. You’ll be able to brush and floss normally again very soon—along with eating normally! Eventually, we hope you’ll forget the crown is even there.

How Long Will It Take to Have My Tooth Covered with a Crown?

Thanks to our CEREC in-house design and milling capability, we can remove any damage to your tooth, prepare it for the crown, design the crown, mill it from dental-grade porcelain, and cement it onto your tooth in a single office visit. How cool is that?

Is There Recovery After Having a Dental Crown Placed?

There isn’t any recovery. When Dr. Greenhalgh is preparing your tooth for the crown he will shave down the natural tooth material on all sides and the top. This makes room for the crown to sit over the entire visible part of the tooth, and it creates excellent bonding surfaces for the crown. For some patients, this preparation can make the area a bit sore for the first 12 hours or so, but that’s not always the case. If there is any soreness, it’s easily managed with over-the-counter pain medication.

After we prepare the tooth, design and mill the crown, and cement it onto your tooth you can use the tooth immediately.

How Painful Is the Process of Receiving a Dental Crown?

When your tooth is being shaved down to make room for the crown, Dr. Greenhalgh uses local anesthetic. This ensures you don’t feel anything. Cementing the new crown is painless.

Does a Crown Ruin Your Tooth?

Far from it — crowns actually save a tooth or teeth in danger of needing extraction. In cases where the tooth has extensive decay, a large chip, or a deep crack, the health of the tooth will continue to decline. Without having a crown placed on the tooth, this will likely lead to one day needing to have it extracted.

It is true that Dr. Greenhalgh has to shave down the tooth on all sides and the top to make room for the crown to overlay the entire tooth. This means the tooth will always need a dental crown on it, but this doesn’t “ruin” the tooth in any way.

How Long Before I Can Use My New Crown?

Because we have the CEREC system at Pacific Northwest Smiles, Dr. Greenhalgh can prepare the tooth, design the crown to fit over it, mill in in office with our CEREC milling station, and place the crown all in a single appointment.

Once we cement your new crown onto the tooth you can use it immediately. Still, it’s not a bad idea to avoid chewing really hard foods and overly sticky items like caramel for a day or so, just to ensure the cement is fully cured and hardened. This isn’t a requirement, but just good sense for that first day.

What Kind of Care Will My Crown Require?

Your beautiful new crown requires no special care, just attentive brushing and flossing every day. It’s a good idea to be sure to work around the bottom of the crown to be sure to remove any food particles. If you remove plaque and food debris from your teeth, your crown can last for decades.

Will My Crowned Tooth Look Natural and Match the Adjacent Teeth?

At Pacific Northwest Smiles we only use dental-grade porcelain for our crowns. Porcelain closely resembles natural tooth enamel in the way it absorbs some light and reflects some light. Plus, Dr. Greenhalgh designs your crown for the specific tooth type it is covering. Your new crowned tooth will fit in perfectly with your other teeth. After a while, you’ll be hard pressed to remember which tooth has the crown.

How Long Do Crowns Last?

How long a crown will last is hard to determine. Their lifespan often depends on the home hygiene of the patient. Porcelain doesn’t decay, but that doesn’t mean the tooth under the crown can’t decay. Also, if the patient practices bad habits such as chewing ice, biting fingernails, and the like, the lifespan of a crown can be greatly diminished. But with the proper hygiene and respect, our high-quality porcelain crowns can last for decades.

Patient Testimonial

“Not only was everyone extremely friendly, but went out of their way to make me less nervous. The entire situation was actually very pleasant where i expected it to be horrid. I am no longer freaked out by the dentist!”

Contact Dr. Greenhalgh For Dental Crowns In Mill Creek, WA!

If you have a damaged tooth or teeth, the damage could be spreading. You might even have an infection. Make an appointment today to save and protect your natural tooth with a dental crown! Fill out our appointment request form or dial 425-357-6400 to reach our office and schedule your consultation with Dr. Greenhalgh and his and his dental team!