Informed Consent | Crowns

Treatment involves covering the tooth above the gumline with a cap (crown). The purpose of the crown is to strengthen and repair a tooth damaged by decay, trauma, or previous restorations or protect a tooth that has had nerve treatment. Crowns can also be used to restore or improve the appearance of badly damaged teeth although this is seldom the case for primary (baby) teeth. The crowns used on primary teeth are considered interim restorations meaning that they are not permanent but usually last as long as needed until the primary tooth is naturally lost.

This treatment is usually completed in one visit that involves removing the damaged tooth structure, preparing the tooth for the crown, treating the nerve if necessary, and fitting and placing the interim crown.

There are several types of interim crowns each having its own advantages and disadvantages. It is possible that one patient may have more than one type of crown placed depending on the position of the tooth.

Benefits and alternatives

The proposed treatment is intended to restore and protect badly damaged teeth on an interim basis until the tooth is naturally lost or a permanent restoration is placed. Alternative treatments include extracting damaged teeth or if they are not abscessed, ignore them in hopes that they will not hurt or become abscessed.

Stainless Steel Crowns

  • Advantages
    1. Very strong and durable
    2. Least expensive of the crowns
    3. Very kind to the surrounding tissue
    4. Comfortable to the patient
    5. Possible to repair badly damaged teeth
  • Disadvantages
    1. Silver color doesn’t look nice on front teeth

Window Crowns

  • Advantages
    1. Quite strong and durable
    2. Very kind to the surrounding tissue
    3. Comfortable to the patient
    4. Look better than Stainless Steel crowns
    5. Possible to repair badly decayed teeth
  • Disadvatages
    1. More costly than Stainless Steel crowns
    2. Small outline of silver doesn’t look completely natural

Composite Crowns

  • Advantages
    1. Most natural look of all interim crowns
    2. Comfortable to the patient
  • Disadvatages
    1. Very weak and susceptible to fracture
    2. Most expensive of all interim crowns
    3. Often irritate surrounding tissue
    4. Can only be done on minimally damaged teeth

Consequences of not performing treatment

This treatment provides the best chance of preserving and restoring a damaged tooth to comfort and function. Delaying or neglecting treatment could easily result in the tooth becoming more decayed and may even result in an abscess or severe infection.

Every reasonable effort will be made to ensure that the crown will be placed properly, although it is not possible to guarantee perfect results. Some crowns fail even after our best effort. We especially deny responsibility if a composite crown fractures or chips. By signing the consent form, you acknowledge that you have received adequate information about the proposed treatment, that you understand this information and that all of your questions have been answered fully.