Fillings will not suffice when you let a cavity go too long, or have a dental injury severe enough that you need a more supportive restoration. In such cases, dental crowns are often recommended. Crowns for teeth have been around for a long time. While diets in far back history were less detrimental in terms of refined sugars, acids, and heavily processed consumables, dental hygiene left a lot to be desired. Without the manufacturing of toothbrushes and toothpastes, early humans had to gnaw sticks into makeshift toothbrushes. The Corona dentists at Dental Associates of Corona will tell you a bit more about how dental crowns have evolved throughout time.

Trial and Error throughout History

The people who occupied the Tuscan region of Italy back in 700 B.C. were known as the Etruscans. Even that far back in history, they had figured out how to fashion crowns out of gold. It seems that gold crowns fell out of fashion for a time, however. The cost of material may be to blame. The profession of dentistry reached fruition around 1530. Up until that time, tooth extractions and crude fillings and crowns were implemented by barbers as a side service. In the 1700s, dentists utilized animal and human teeth as restorations. One hundred or so years later, porcelain became the un-gold standard for crowns.

Continued Evolution

The types of well-made and long-lasting crowns that we know today began to take shape in the early part of the 1900s. Dr. William Taggert refined the technique of lost-wax casting to manufacture crowns. A wax mold was used to give porcelain or gold crowns their shape. This invention made it possible for dentists to provide precise crowns for their patients using porcelain or gold. Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns became available in the 1960s. The attempt was to provide both strength and aesthetics. Unfortunately, the metal edge created a visible black line at the edge of the crown which was disconcerting. These days, crowns made from all porcelain or other strong tooth-colored materials are the norm.

Dental Crowns from the Corona Dentists

For more information on dental crowns, contact our Corona dental office. You can schedule a consultation with your Corona dentists by calling (951) 273-9580. We serve patients in the 92879 area and surrounding communities.