What are all-ceramic dental crowns?

All-ceramic dental crowns are simply that, crowns fabricated entirely of a dental ceramic such as porcelain.

What are the advantages of all-ceramic crowns?

Superior aesthetics.

All-ceramic crowns offer the advantage that their appearance is usually more lifelike than porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) dental crowns. Enamel is a translucent covering over a tooth and has very characteristic light handling abilities. An all-ceramic dental crown can provide a similar type of covering for a tooth and handle light in a way that closely mimics that of dental enamel.

Another advantage of all-ceramic crowns over PFM's is that there is no metal substructure that has the potential to spoil the crown's cosmetic appearance.

Single visit placement.

It is possible that your dentist has a milling machine with which they can create dental crowns out of a ceramic block. One of the brand names associated with this technology is Cerec. The names of some of the materials used with this system are the ceramics ProCad and Vitablocs and a dental composite material named Paradigm.
       The big advantage of this technique is that the dental crown can be milled at the time of the dental appointment and immediately placed. This is in contrast to the customary two-visit process where the dental crown is fabricated in a dental laboratory, which typically takes on the order of two weeks.

What are the disadvantages of all-ceramic dental crowns?

Besides cosmetic appearance, all other characteristics of all-ceramic crowns are typically considered to be either inferior to or more difficult to deal with than with other types of dental crowns. Other types of crowns have superior strength and fit over the tooth. With the exception of milled crowns, the fabrication process associated with all-ceramic crowns is more technically difficult and technique sensitive.

In the case of milled ceramic crowns, it could be debated that since the dental crown is cut from a homogenous standardized block it won't possess characterization to the same degree that a dental lab technician can impart to a handmade crown. As a result, a milled crown may not look as lifelike as other types of all-ceramic crowns.

Types of all-ceramic dental crowns.

Porcelain-jacket crowns.

The first generation of all-ceramic crowns was the porcelain-jacket. They were first introduced over 100 years ago. And as you might expect, they offered superior cosmetic appearance, at the expense of strength. Porcelain-jacket crowns were typically only placed on anterior teeth.

More recent developments.

In recent decades a number of companies have developed proprietary materials and processes for fabricating all-ceramic crowns. In general, they provide the same superior cosmetic appearance as porcelain-jackets crowns but offer greater strength.
       There are a number of brand names associated with all-ceramic dental crowns. These include: Dicor, Cerapearl, Optec, Empress, Vitadur, Hyceram, Cerestore, Procera, Inceram, Cerec, ProCad, Vitablocs and Paradigm.

Is an all-ceramic dental crown the best choice for me?

Clearly this is something you need to discuss with your dentist. In those situations where the cosmetic appearance of the patient's front teeth is their single greatest concern, they can be an excellent choice. However, since they have less strength than other types of crowns, the prudence of placing an all-ceramic dental crown on a back tooth where cosmetic appearance is less of a factor could be a point of debate.

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