Dental Crowns
Protecting damaged teeth while restoring comfortable function
and a natural-looking smile.
Dental crowns are used to protect and restore damaged teeth. Our durable crowns have both a restorative and a cosmetic function; a crown can improve your smile’s health and function while also enhancing its beauty. If you need a dental crown in Spokane, WA, we encourage you to contact Chaffin Dental Care at 509-467-6128 today to schedule an appointment with our caring dentists, Drs. Chris and Topher Chaffin.
A damaged tooth does not always have to mean messy impressions, repeated temporary crowns, and weeks of waiting on an outside lab. At Chaffin Dental Care, digital scanning and in-house milling allow us to design and fabricate many restorations directly in our Spokane office, giving our doctors greater control over the process and often reducing the wait for your final crown.
Dental Crowns Designed for Health, Function and a Natural Appearance
A dental crown, sometimes called a tooth cap, covers and protects the visible portion of a tooth. It can restore strength to a tooth that has been weakened by decay, fracture, a large filling, or root canal treatment while also rebuilding the tooth’s natural shape and appearance. Crowns may also be used as part of a dental implant or bridge and can improve teeth that are severely worn, misshapen, or discolored.
At Chaffin Dental Care, restorative dentistry is about more than repairing one tooth in isolation. We look beyond the individual tooth and consider how the restoration will work with your bite, gums, surrounding teeth, and overall oral health. Before recommending a crown, we evaluate the condition of the tooth and surrounding structures and consider how the restoration will function within your smile. Our goal is to preserve healthy tooth structure whenever possible and provide a restoration that supports comfortable chewing, a balanced bite, and long-term oral health.
Benefits of Dental Crowns
A well-designed tooth crown can protect a compromised tooth and help you use it comfortably again. Depending on your needs, a crown may:
- Protect and strengthen a cracked, fractured, or weakened tooth
- Restore a tooth with significant decay or a large existing filling
- Protect a tooth after root canal therapy
- Rebuild worn or damaged biting surfaces
- Restore a dental implant
- Support a dental bridge
- Improve the shape, color, or proportions of a visible tooth
Choosing Chaffin Dental Care for your crown also brings several advantages. Our advanced digital technology allows us to capture highly detailed information about your tooth and bite, while our cosmetic dentistry experience helps us design porcelain crowns that look appropriate next to your natural teeth. We focus on the details that matter for both appearance and function: fit, shape, shade, bite, and how the final crown feels when you speak and chew.
“Great! Dr Chaffin fixed a long term issue that required advanced skill and knowledge. Beautiful crown is now in place. Friendly and expert staff. Highly recommend!”
Digital Crowns Made Right Here in Our Spokane Office
Using iTero digital scanning and our in-office Ceramill Motion 3 milling system, we can design and fabricate many crowns without relying on a traditional outside-lab process. Depending on the individual case and materials needed, some restorations may be completed the same day while others can be ready as soon as the following day. Keeping more of the process in-house allows our doctors to maintain greater control over the fit, bite, appearance, and final result.
We use iTero digital scanning technology to create a detailed three-dimensional scan of your prepared tooth, nearby teeth, and bite. This digital information helps us plan the restoration with precision and avoids many of the inconveniences associated with conventional impression material.
Your crown can then be fabricated with our lab-grade Ceramill Motion 3 milling technology. This advanced 5-axis system is designed for precise dental restoration production and allows us to keep more of the crown-making process within our own digital workflow.
Detailed three-dimensional imaging of your tooth, nearby teeth, and bite.
Lab-grade 5-axis milling technology used to fabricate precise dental restorations.
Patients want fewer appointments and less waiting for a final restoration. Our dental crown process provides those convenience benefits while giving our team time to focus on the fit, bite, and appearance of the finished crown.
“A couple of days ago I had to get a crown that I had been putting off for about a year or longer. I was not looking forward to it, but I knew it was necessary. Dr. Chaffin and his team made the procedure painless! They made the crown on site, and after a couple of hours or so, I left with the permanent crown. I was able to eat a dinner of meat and vegetables with no problem and then floss my teeth without the string tearing. After two days, the crown feels natural. I have had no residual pain. I definitely continue to recommend Dr. Chaffin and will have my dental work done by him”
When Is a Dental Crown Needed?
Not every damaged tooth requires a crown. Smaller areas of decay or damage may sometimes be repaired with a filling or another conservative treatment. A crown becomes more appropriate when the remaining tooth needs greater protection or when rebuilding the tooth’s full shape is important for predictable function.
We may recommend a dental crown when:
- A tooth is cracked, fractured, or significantly worn
- Decay is too extensive for a filling alone
- A large filling has left the remaining tooth structure weak
- A tooth has received root canal treatment and needs protection
- A dental implant needs its final visible restoration
- A bridge needs support from a crowned tooth
- A tooth’s shape or appearance needs significant improvement
- An older crown is broken, worn, leaking, or no longer fits properly
If you are experiencing pain, sensitivity, a broken tooth, or a damaged crown, we will examine the area and discuss the options that make sense for your individual situation rather than automatically recommending the most extensive treatment.
Cosmetic Experience Matters for a Natural-Looking Crown
A crown needs to do more than simply cover a tooth. Especially when the restoration is visible in your smile, its shape, surface texture, color, and proportions all affect how natural it looks.
Because our dentists have extensive cosmetic dentistry experience, we approach porcelain crowns with the same attention to detail we bring to smile-enhancing treatment. We consider how the crown relates to the surrounding teeth, your smile, and your bite. Our goal is not to create a crown that looks like a separate dental restoration; it is to create one that blends comfortably and naturally with your smile.
“I had a broken crown and Dr Chaffin’s office, receptionist, dental assistant, Char, and Dr Topher all did a great job on getting me in for an emergency crown replacement. My new crown fits perfectly and I would certainly return for future dental care. Thanks to you all.”
Porcelain Crown Care and Longevity
The dental crown material itself cannot decay, but the natural tooth underneath and the area around the crown margin can still develop cavities. Good home care and routine dental visits help protect both the crown and the supporting tooth. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, clean between your teeth daily with floss or another recommended interdental cleaner, and keep up with regular dental exams and professional cleanings.
Avoid using crowned teeth to bite hard non-food objects such as ice, pens, or packaging. If you clench or grind your teeth, let us know. A custom nightguard may be recommended to help protect both your natural teeth and dental restorations from excessive forces.
Porcelain crowns are designed to be durable, but no restoration lasts forever. Longevity varies depending on factors such as the condition of the supporting tooth, bite forces, grinding habits, oral hygiene, diet, and regular preventive care. Routine visits allow us to monitor the crown, the tooth beneath it, your gums, and your bite so that small changes can be addressed before they become larger problems.
Schedule a Dental Crown Consultation in Spokane
If you have a cracked or damaged tooth, an older crown that needs attention, or have been told that you may need a tooth cap, our team can help you understand your options. Chaffin Dental Care combines a whole-body approach to restorative dentistry with advanced iTero scanning, Ceramill Motion 3 milling technology, and cosmetic expertise to provide crowns designed for health, function, efficiency, and a natural appearance.
Call 509-467-6128 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Chris Chaffin or Dr. Topher Chaffin and learn whether a dental crown is the right solution for your smile.