Dental Crowns · San Ramon
Crowns that fit, match, and last
When a tooth has too little structure left to hold a filling, a crown is what keeps it yours.
Who this is for
- A cracked tooth, or one that aches when you bite down
- A very large old filling that keeps failing
- A tooth that’s had a root canal and needs protecting
- An old crown with a dark line showing at the gum
Why a filling stops being enough
Every time a filling is replaced, a little more tooth structure goes with it. Eventually the remaining walls are thin enough that they flex when you chew — and a flexing wall eventually cracks, sometimes below the gum where it can’t be saved.
A crown covers the whole tooth and holds it together instead of wedging it apart. That’s the actual reason we recommend one: it’s the difference between keeping the tooth and extracting it in two years.
If a filling would genuinely still do the job, we’ll place a filling. Crowns are expensive and we don’t hand them out early.
What the appointment is like
The tooth is numbed and shaped, we take a digital scan, and you leave with a temporary crown while the lab makes the permanent one. Second visit, we try in the real one, check the bite carefully, and cement it.
The bite check is the part that matters most and the part most often rushed. A crown that’s even fractionally high will ache for months. We take the time on it, and if something feels off after you leave, come back — adjusting it takes five minutes and there’s no charge.
Materials, briefly
Most of our crowns are all-ceramic — zirconia or lithium disilicate. They’re strong, they don’t show a metal margin at the gumline as older porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns eventually do, and they can be shaded to match convincingly.
For back molars in patients who grind heavily, we sometimes recommend a more robust material even though it’s slightly less translucent. We’ll explain the trade-off rather than just choosing for you.
Questions
Answered before you ask.
How long does a crown last?
Ten to twenty years is typical, longer with good hygiene and if you’re not a heavy grinder. What usually fails first is decay at the margin where the crown meets tooth, which is why we keep checking it.
Do I need a root canal too?
Not always — most crowned teeth never need one. It becomes necessary when the nerve is already inflamed or infected. We’ll know from your symptoms and the x-ray, and we’ll tell you before we begin if we think it’s likely. We don’t perform root canals here; we refer that to an endodontist and then crown the tooth once it’s done.
Will it match my other teeth?
That’s the intention. We shade-match in natural light, and for front teeth we’ll check the try-in with you before cementing anything.
I grind my teeth. Does that change things?
Yes, meaningfully. We’d generally recommend a nightguard alongside the crown — grinding is the fastest way to fracture new dental work, and a guard costs far less than replacing it.
In their words
Thirty years of families who stayed.
Every quote below is a patient's own, unedited, from our reviews.
“We LOVE LOVE LOVE Avalon Dental! Dr. B is the best dentist we’ve ever gone to”
Cassondra H. “Dr B. always does a great job and you don’t feel the work getting done”
Marie T. “The staff always make my experiences with them the best and most comfortable”
Rebecca C.