Porcelain Crowns
The difference between porcelain fused to metal crowns and all-porcelain crowns
Dentists are taught in dental school to use porcelain fused to metal crowns. The crown is made out of metal and porcelain is baked onto the metal to give a tooth-colored restoration.
However, the result is necessarily opaque, and thus there are limitations as to how realistic they can look. In addition, over time they will get a dark line at the gumline, and in spite of efforts to cover this up, the gums may recede to expose this dark or even black line.
Newer high-tech bonding technology allows us to bond porcelain directly to the tooth, instead of using a metal core. The result is translucent and absolutely natural. These crowns are so beautiful, it is often impossible to tell them from natural teeth. These are the crowns our dentists prefer to use.