What makes your Child a great candidate for Zirconia Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns have made it easy for anyone and everyone to cover up their dental flaws. People suffer from all sorts of issues such as colour mismatch, broken teeth, fractured teeth, decayed teeth etc and dental crown is the solution for all kinds of dental problems such as these. With the invention of dental crowns, dentists have been able to provide extensive dental care not only for adults but also for older adults and younger adults including children. Dental crowns are not only a great option for regular people but can also be used for young kids who have lost their primary teeth much earlier due to a vast variety of reasons.

Unlike common myth, leaving a child’s primary tooth issues unattended or not having dental care provided for primary teeth that fell off too early is not good for young children. Paediatric dentistry is a whole branch that deals with the primary teeth and focuses on dental care that helps children to have better teeth from the very beginning so that they may have great teeth as adults. It all starts at the grass roots level and in this case, it is primary teeth. Read on to find out more about primary teeth and its importance for children and dental crowns for young children.

Paediatric Dentistry in Modern World

Paediatric Dentistry is the branch of science that deals with issues of children with regards to dental care. Most parents assume that the first set of teeth that a toddler develops around the age of 1.5 to 2 years of age is susceptible to damage and even if they fall off, it is nothing to be worried about. But this is a myth. It is true that primary teeth are more prone to damage than regular or permanent teeth but primary teeth need to be taken care of as much as the permanent teeth as well.

These are some of the vital roles of primary teeth in children and they are not optional and therefore, the presence of primary teeth is important in children. If a primary teeth falls off too soon or has any issues such as decay, fracture or plaque build up, it must be given proper attention and a dentist should be consulted in this situation.

Today, there are many ways for children to retain their primary teeth. Dental crowns are the most important of all of them. Dental crowns are made specifically for children as well and they have special characteristics that help in all the functions that a primary tooth plays in a child's development. Dental crowns for children sit exactly like a crown on a tooth, it covers the original teeth within by surrounding it and preventing it from any additional damage. Dental crowns for children are available in many dental materials today including the traditional SSC crowns to the latest Zirconia crowns. There are other types in between these two types that have the shared properties of both these crowns as they are both ends of a rainbow. SSC crowns are entirely different from Zirconia tooth crowns and both have their own unique properties and their ups and downs. Which crown is best for which kind of paediatric patient is something that depends on both the patient and the dentists’ recommendation. Let us learn a little more about the types of crowns for children

Types of Dental Crowns for Children

If you are a parent and are looking for dental crowns for your child, it could be a confusing choice looking at all the options in the market. On one hand, it makes no sense to invest in expensive dental crowns for the sake of aesthetics when they will soon be replaced by permanent teeth but on the other hand, children and parents are both more interested in aesthetics than functionality. Children from the modern age are no longer interested in having shiny braces or caps on teeth that look jarring and out of place. Even though metal based crowns such as SSC (stainless steel crowns) are economical, easy to use and easy to adapt to, the modern world is no longer interested in it.

Below is a list of possible dental crown options for children:

Zirconia Crowns

Zirconia dental crowns are one of the most advanced types of dental crowns that are now available in the market. Although traditional Zirconia crowns for adults have been in usage for a long time now, Zirconia tooth crowns for children are being used since the past few years. Zirconia crowns are also referred to as Zirconia Ceramic crowns as the structure is very closely linked to ceramic crowns because of its properties. Zirconia crowns are made from zirconium dioxide slabs that are used to carve zirconia crowns from using special equipment in the lab.

Zirconia crowns cost are slightly more expensive than the rest of the options such as stainless steel crowns or resin crowns but they are a great investment considering a lot of factors. Even though zirconia crown price may be higher, the cost is owed to the durability, sturdity and esthetics that zirconia dental crowns provide to patients. Zirconia crown cost anywhere between a few thousands of rupees for a child and are quite similar to the pricing for adult teeth as the same technology and effort goes into making any size of zirconia tooth crowns

Stainless Steel Crowns

Another popular option is stainless steel crown. They are the most traditional options for children who need dental crowns. They are easy to work with and are very cost efficient. Most parents prefer SSC over other crowns because of their ease of use, adaptability and cost effectiveness. Some children and parents may not be comfortable with the obvious colour of the crown and some kids may be allergic to metal. In such scenarios, SSC is not a viable option.

Resin Veneered Crowns

Resin veneered crowns are basically metal crowns with a resin covered veneer on top that provides the aesthetics of a ceramic crown with the strength of a metal crown. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this type of crown as they need much larger space to fit, requiring a higher amount of original teeth to be removed. It is also difficult to trim and contour such crowns causing issues at the time of fitment and increasing the chair side time. They are however more expensive than SSC crowns.

Children who are perfect candidates for Zirconia crowns

Below are some of the scenarios that make some children more suitable patients for Zirconia crowns than the rest of them:

1. Metal Allergy

The most important factor because of which Zirconia crowns have become popular amongst children as well is because of metal allergy. Some kids are allergic to nickel which is an important part of all metal crowns. Children who cannot wear metal crowns are directly shifted to Zirconia dental crowns as it is a highly biocompatible material and easily adapts to any patient

2. Esthetics

Esthetics is one of the main factors why doctors’ recommend Zirconia crowns to parents for their children. Zirconia crowns have a translucent, somewhat opaque white structure which makes them look just like primary teeth. For kids who have lost their anterior teeth, Zirconia ceramic crowns are excellent options as they look just like an adult ceramic crown but perfectly trimmed to fit the child's teeth

3. Perfect Fitting

Unlike any other crown, Zirconia crowns are designed to perfectly fit your childs’ original teeth using technologies such as CAD/CAM. This method can mimic exactly the size and shape of the childs’ teeth thereby reducing the amount of chair side time taken for contouring, trimming and crimping of the crown. Especially with kids, a low chair side is highly beneficial as kids are unlikely to cooperate for long periods of time. They are also more prone to losing their crowns often since they seldom care for their crowns and if the fitting is not right, more crowns are lost if not for any.

4. Sturdity

With children, sturdity (strength and durability) is important even with anterior teeth. Kids are more susceptible to falling, breaking their teeth often as they grow. They eat a lot of candy, bite hard on hard toffees and consume a lot of sugary food all of which can weaken a crown. Having a sturdy crown with good durability to last the years until which the secondary teeth are formed is important even if the time period is short. With a Zirconia crown, the chances of losing a crown, fracturing or breaking a crown and maintenance of a crown is pretty low when compared to other dental crowns for kids.

These are some of the reasons which makes a child a perfect candidate for Zirconia Dental Crown