Dental crowns made in a dental laboratory are used to replace the natural crown of a damaged tooth. In case of a living tooth, the crown is prepared in order to fit the accordingly filled tooth. If the tooth is dead or extensively damaged, then the crown has to be built on the inlay that has been previously anchored (with a post or screw) to the dental root.

Crowns can be made from metal as well as from materials that match the tooth colour. Gold alloys are considered to be the most ‘tooth-friendly’ prosthetic materials due to their suitable speed of wearing, easy processing and chemical stability.

Nowadays, modern ceramic materials (porcelain) are becoming increasingly popular, their best characteristic being aesthetic appeal that is comparable to dental enamel. Excessive fragility is no longer a problem when using modern fixing methods.

The combination of the two previously mentioned materials (metalloceramics) is probably the most widely used method at the moment. Here the aesthetic ceramic layer is fused to cast precious metal. The result of this is a precisely fitting aesthetic and durable crown.