Treatments
Dental crowns: protecting the tooth you still have
A dental crown covers a damaged or weakened tooth completely and gives back its shape, its function and its natural look. It is made to measure, in materials such as ceramic or porcelain, so that it sits comfortably among the teeth around it. Whether your case calls for a crown, and in which material, is decided at the first assessment.
Dental crowns are restorations that cover and protect a damaged or weakened tooth, restoring its shape, function, and appearance. They are custom-made to fit your smile and can be crafted from high-quality materials such as ceramic or porcelain, providing strong and natural-looking results.
A crown is never planned by looking at one tooth on its own. Before its shape is decided, we need to understand how that tooth meets the one above it and what job it does while you chew, because a crown that looks right but ignores the bite simply moves the load somewhere else. That is why the assessment starts with the relationship between teeth, gums, bite and chewing muscles rather than with the tooth in isolation.
The material follows the tooth. An incisor mostly needs light to pass through it the way it passes through the enamel next to it; a molar works under the load of chewing. Ceramic and porcelain can answer both demands, and which one suits your case comes out of the diagnosis.
These treatments are planned by the two prosthodontists on the team: Dr. Juanita Pulido Bustamante, a dentist from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and a specialist in prosthodontics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, with fifteen years of practice; and Dr. Alexandra Martínez, a specialist in prosthodontics from the same university, with eighteen years of practice and a focus on aesthetic dentistry.
The starting point is always the same appointment: look at the tooth, look at the bite, and explain the options before anything is touched. If you are writing from outside Colombia, get in touch before you book a trip.
Text expanded by the studio from the clinic’s own material. Pending clinical validation before publication.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a crown and a veneer?
A crown covers the whole tooth; a veneer covers only the visible front surface. They solve different problems, and which one applies depends on how much healthy structure the tooth still has. That is what the assessment looks at.
How long does a dental crown last?
We do not quote a figure, because it would be an invented one: how long a crown lasts depends on your hygiene, on how you bite and on the condition of the tooth underneath. What we can tell you at the consultation is which of those factors work for you and which work against you.
Will people be able to tell?
The design aims for a crown you cannot pick out from the teeth beside it, which is what ceramic and porcelain are for. How close that gets in your case depends on the tooth, the material and the state of its neighbours, and we talk it through before starting.
Can a crown be placed on an implant?
Yes. The implant is the titanium post in the bone, and holding a crown or a prosthesis is exactly what it is there for. They are two parts of one treatment and they are planned together.
Every mouth is different. The way to know whether this treatment is the right one for you is an assessment with the team.