Hi, it’s Michael Ghobrial here from Sure Dental in Brisbane, Wavell Heights. I recently had the opportunity to meet a lovely new family from Clayfield. They’ve recently relocated back to Australia. Both the husband and wife had some complex treatment done whilst they were in the US, the wife Sandra had wonderful results, and the husband Bill didn’t have such great results, and we needed to help fix his smile. I found out they both went to different Dentists, and the issue Bill was experiencing was that the dental crown was letting bacteria in. During our consultation, he asked me what’s the cost of a dental crown, and what are the factors that impact the price. This is actually a very common question, so I thought I’ll make a video sharing with you what I shared with them.
The price of a dental crown can range between $1100-$3000 dollars, and here are the 3 factors that impact on the price.
The first thing to consider is actually the Dentist and the operator who is doing the work. Like all things, some people do things very, very well, and other people do things a little bit differently. Some people take the time to do things properly and others do things very quickly.
The other thing is also the philosophy of the Dentist. Some Dentists are passionate about having a very, very strong crown, but that can be at the cost of removing significant tooth structure. And there are other Dentists that are very passionate about being conservative of tooth structure and are very careful in their shaping of the tooth. As a result of being conservative they have to be careful about the quality of material used, so it can be strong enough. This will have an impact on the price of the dental crown.
Here at Sure Dental, we are very conservative of tooth structure. We love your teeth, and we want to keep as much tooth structure there as possible. But to prepare a crown very conservatively it is actually very difficult and it takes more time and it has to be done carefully.
The second thing to consider is actually the material used. There are many, many crown materials, and they all hugely impact the cost of crowns. Some materials are very tooth-like in the way they look, and also tooth-like in the way they act, their strength and wear characteristics. And other materials can be either far too strong, which is damaging to adjacent teeth, or they can actually be far too weak. And so they can have predominantly resin in them with a little bit of porcelain infused in it. So the type of material is very, very important, and it will also impact the price of the dental crown.
The third thing is how the crown is being made. Is the crown being made in an in-office mill, which means that often they’re sold as same-day crowns. And that was where Bill had the bad outcome. He had those same-day crowns done where the materials have to be done in a way that they aren’t put through a furnace and processed in quite as long. This can result in compromised physical properties of the crown. Often this means an auxiliary team member is designing the crown as opposed to an expert ceramist.
Now, if it is getting done by a Ceramist, is it being done by a Master Ceramist here in Australia, or is it being done in a third world country? The results, the safety, the TGA approval, the materials, are all greatly affected by who is making those crowns.
So when it’s time for you to choose your dental crown, I guess the three things to consider when choosing where to get a dental crown.
- The dentist, the operator, their expertise, how much time they spend in preparing it, and how passionate they are about being conservative of your tooth structure.
- The material that is being used. We want the most tooth-like material being used, and we want it to be strong enough in very thin sections so that we don’t have to remove too much tooth structure.
- How is the crown being made? Ideally, if you can have a Master Ceramist here in Australia, who is designing your crown, who is finishing your crown, who is fitting it down on the model and hand finishing it under microscopy, you’re going to get a beautiful margin and a crown that is going to be long-lasting.
I hope this has been helpful for you in letting you know a little bit more about dental crowns pricing. And if you have any questions or you need a dental crown, please feel free to contact us on 07 3113 9698, direct message us on social media, or visit us at suredental.com.au. See you at the next video!
