Problems with Zirconia crowns
All dental crowns can have problems however there are some specific problems concerning zirconia crowns that can develop. Here are these problems:
1. Zirconia crowns can still break, crack or fracture off. This is because porcelain is a brittle material even though it is a strong material. The property of being brittle means that when an excessive force is applied, there is no “give” in the material and it just suddenly gives way. Unfortunately, unless the fracture is extremely minor, it will be necessary to replace the crown from the beginning.
2. Zirconia crowns can sometimes cause sensitivity after they have been fitted. This can be for a number of reasons and your dentist will have to investigate the cause of it in order to find the solution.
3. Zirconia crowns can sometimes be difficult to match in terms of colour against your other natural teeth. There is no guarantee that your new zirconia crown will match exactly against your neighbouring teeth but it should be fairly close. If there is a discernible difference that you are not happy about, then you always have the option of having the crown remade with a closer colour match.
4. Zirconia crowns can be prohibitively expensive in comparison to traditional normal crowns. The costs can be more than twofold. This extra cost will quickly add up if you are having several crowns done as zirconia crowns. A normal porcelain crown on a private basis will cost from £300-£1000 on average. The zirconia crown will cost upwards from £600 all the way to £2000 and more. This, therefore, makes them significantly more costly than traditional crowns and this is one of their major disadvantages.
5. Zirconia crowns are exceptionally difficult to remove once they have been glued or cemented on the existing tooth. The material is exceptionally difficult to cut off using the dental drill. Although you may not think about this at the time, it is something to think about when over a period of time, it becomes necessary to have your crowns replaced with new ones as all dentistry will eventually fail and need replacing at some point.
( Zirconia is just the generic name of the material. Zirconia porcelain is chemically different to the type of porcelain used in the normal traditional crown. As such, it can be known under different Brand names such as IPS e.max, Lava Plus, Suntech, Z-Crown, Zenith, Inceram, Cerec, IPS Empress, BruxZir , just to name some.)