When it comes to accidental cracks and breaks to the tooth’s surface,
repairing the tooth to its original appearance and functionality can be
a relatively costly and stressful affair. But the need for restorative
treatments may be necessary to complete your smile.

n
the last article, we already knew the difference between The Dental
Filling vs The Inlay. This article is going to talk about Onlay vs
Crown, which both terms refer to porcelain restorations that fix teeth
with significant damage that it has to be covered completely to restore
its health and function.

Dental Crowns

        A
crown is a piece of porcelain and ceramic that replaces your entire
outer tooth structure. A crown is used when more than 50% of the
occlusal surface (or biting surface) of your tooth is affected. Often, a
crown is used to replace an inlay, onlay, or filling that has become
decayed again and the restoration would be so big that it would threaten
the integrity of your tooth. Once the final digital impression is
taken, the dentists design the crown and they will stain and glaze the
crown so that it matches the surrounding teeth. Finally, they will
cement the crown to your tooth.

Rarely
will a dentist use a crown as an aesthetic solution unless the tooth
has been damaged from grinding or some other cause. Dental crowns only
make the best choice for making cosmetic changes in situations where
they serve other purposes, such as restoring teeth to their original
shape or strengthening them.

The pros and cons of crowns

        Crowns
are strong and sturdy. Even stronger, in fact than a natural tooth!
Crowns look and feel like a natural tooth and thanks to the reinforced
strength, they function naturally as well.
Unfortunately though,
dental crowns require a lot of the natural tooth’s structure to be
depleted. This is because crowns are fabricated as a replacement for the
visible part of the tooth so for them to fit comfortably, the visible
part of the tooth must be removed.

Onlay

        An
onlay is a piece of porcelain and ceramic that fits over most of your
prepared tooth. An onlay is used when the affected area of the tooth
includes the cusps of the teeth. The dentist will remove the decayed
portion of your tooth and take a digital impression. Then they design
the onlay to match the rest of your tooth’s anatomy. Once the onlay is
designed, the dentists will stain and glaze it so that the color matches
your existing tooth. Finally, the onlay is cemented onto your tooth. An
onlay can cover one, two, or three surfaces.

Onlays are often
referred to as partial crowns because they can look similar to crowns at
times but they don’t require as much tooth structure to be lost from
the tooth.

The pros and cons of onlays

Although
these restorations are not quite as strong as crowns, they still have a
great number of advantages. For some people, if they have not taken
proper care of their oral health or a filling or crown has become
defected, the tooth may need to be restored. Unfortunately, this can
cause a lot of damage to the remaining tooth structure. In cases like
these, if the tooth has been restored with a filling, inlay or onlay,
the later restoration will be more likely to not require a full tooth
replacement. Where crowns are involved often the remaining tooth
structure is no longer salvageable.
 

So which is better?

        Generally
speaking, crowns are the most predictable way to restore a heavily
broken down tooth. It’s important though to take into account that
medium holes or defective fillings may be better restored with onlays.
Onlays in the number of circumstances may be better for the long-term
strength of your tooth that having a crown.

It preserves more of your natural tooth to bond-to and can avoid the need for a more extensive crown in the future.