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Hours
Mon: Closed
Tues: 9:00AM-5:00PM
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A cracked, worn, or heavily filled tooth does not have to be pulled. A dental crown in Houston Heights covers and strengthens what is left of the tooth so you can chew normally again, in porcelain or zirconia that matches your smile.
A dental crown is a custom-made cap that covers a damaged tooth down to the gum line, restoring its shape, strength, and appearance. At Lush Dental Heights in Houston, crowns are made from porcelain or zirconia, by our partner lab or in-office the same day.
When a crown is the right fix: a tooth that is cracked or has a large old filling that keeps breaking, a tooth worn flat by grinding, a tooth that has had root canal therapy and needs protecting, a badly discolored or misshapen tooth that bonding cannot fix, or a dental implant that needs its final tooth. Crowns also anchor a dental bridge. When the damage is small, a filling is enough; when it is large, a crown keeps the tooth from splitting and saves it from extraction.
Types of crowns we offer: all-ceramic porcelain and zirconia crowns are metal-free, strong, and the most natural-looking, which makes them our usual choice for front and back teeth alike. Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns remain an option where extra strength is needed. If you would rather not wait for the lab, a same-day CEREC crown is designed and milled in our office in a single visit, with no temporary crown. We will recommend the material that suits the tooth and your bite, and our post on metal-free crowns explains the differences.
How a crown is placed: the tooth is numbed, decay and weak enamel are removed, and the tooth is reshaped to hold the crown. A 3D intraoral scanner captures the prepared tooth, no putty needed, and photos record the shade. For a lab-made crown you wear a temporary crown for a couple of weeks and return for the final fitting, where the crown is checked for fit and bite and bonded permanently with dental adhesive. For a same-day crown, the whole process happens in one appointment.
Cost and insurance: the cost of a crown depends on the material, whether a root canal or a build-up of the tooth is needed first, and your insurance. Crowns placed to restore a damaged tooth are usually covered in part by dental insurance, and we accept most plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Delta Dental, Guardian, MetLife, and UnitedHealthcare. You get the cost of your treatment plan before anything starts, and financing is available through Cherry, CareCredit, Sunbit, and HFD, pending approval.
Crowns are part of our wider restorative dentistry care, which covers the range of ways we rebuild a damaged or missing tooth. If a tooth has just broken and hurts, see our emergency dentist page for same-day help. We treat patients from across Houston, including Garden Oaks, Greater Heights, and Rice Military.
A well-made crown that is brushed, flossed, and checked regularly can last 15 years or more; the most common reason one fails early is decay creeping in at the gum line, which routine exams catch.
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A crown holds a cracked or heavily filled tooth together and takes the force of chewing off the weakened parts. Keeping your natural root is always better than replacing it, and a crown is usually what makes that possible.
Porcelain and zirconia crowns are shaded to match the teeth beside them and shaped to fit your bite, so a crown on a front tooth is hard to spot and a crown on a back tooth feels like the tooth it replaced.
With everyday brushing, flossing, and regular check-ups, a crown commonly lasts 15 years or longer. Zirconia in particular stands up to heavy chewing and grinding better than almost any other material.
The tooth and surrounding gum are numbed, then decayed or weakened enamel is removed and the tooth is reshaped into a stable base for the crown. If the tooth has a large cavity or has had a root canal, a build-up is placed first so the crown has something solid to hold onto.
A 3D intraoral scanner captures the prepared tooth in minutes, with no goopy putty, and photos record your tooth shade. The scan goes to our partner lab, and you leave with a temporary crown that protects the tooth while your permanent one is made. Choose a same-day CEREC crown and this step and the next happen in the same visit.
At the fitting we check how the crown sits against the gum, how it meets the neighboring teeth, and how it feels when you bite, and make any small adjustments. Once the fit is right, the crown is bonded permanently with dental adhesive, and you can eat on it as soon as the numbness wears off.
The cost depends on the material (zirconia and all-porcelain cost more than porcelain-fused-to-metal), on whether the tooth needs a root canal or a build-up first, and on whether you choose a lab-made or same-day crown. We give you the cost of your treatment plan at the exam, before any work starts.
Crowns placed to restore a cracked, decayed, or root-canal-treated tooth are usually covered in part by dental insurance, often around half once your deductible is met, while purely cosmetic crowns may not be. We accept most insurance plans and are happy to help you check your coverage, and financing is available through Cherry, CareCredit, Sunbit, and HFD, pending approval.
Both are permanent crowns made from strong ceramic. A same-day CEREC crown is scanned, designed, and milled in our office in about an hour, so there is no temporary crown and no second visit, which suits most back-tooth and many front-tooth cases.
A lab-made crown takes a couple of weeks but lets a technician layer porcelain by hand, which can be the better choice for a very visible front tooth where matching the translucency of the neighboring teeth matters most, or for a bite that needs a specific material. We look at the tooth and your bite and tell you which we recommend; our post on same-day vs. traditional crowns covers the trade-offs.
A filling repairs a small to medium cavity by filling the hole with tooth-colored composite; the rest of the tooth stays as it is. A crown covers the entire tooth above the gum line and is used when so much of the tooth is damaged that a filling would not hold.
A veneer covers only the front surface of a healthy tooth and is purely cosmetic. If a tooth is both damaged and visible, a porcelain crown does both jobs: it strengthens the tooth and improves how it looks.
Treat it like a natural tooth. Brush twice a day for two minutes, floss daily, paying attention to the edge where the crown meets the gum, and keep up with cleanings and exams every six months so we can check the margin for decay.
Avoid chewing ice, hard candy, or pens, and do not use your teeth to open packaging. If you grind at night, a night guard protects the crown and the teeth around it from chipping or wearing down.
Usually, in part. Crowns placed as restorative treatment, to repair a cracked, decayed, or root-canal-treated tooth, are covered by most dental plans, typically at around 50 percent after your deductible, up to your annual maximum. Crowns placed purely for cosmetic reasons may not be covered.
Coverage varies from plan to plan, so we are happy to help you check your benefits before treatment. Whatever your plan covers, the balance can be financed through Cherry, CareCredit, Sunbit, or HFD, pending approval.
A properly made and fitted crown commonly lasts 15 years, and many last much longer. Zirconia and all-porcelain crowns are highly resistant to wear and staining, and a well-made same-day ceramic crown is designed to last as long as a lab-made one.
What shortens a crown’s life is usually the tooth underneath, not the crown: decay at the gum line, gum disease, or grinding. Brushing, flossing, six-monthly check-ups, and a night guard if you grind are what keep a crown going for decades.
Crowns repair teeth that are cracked, broken, or badly decayed, teeth with large or failing fillings, and teeth worn down by grinding. A crown is also the standard way to protect a tooth after root canal therapy, because a root-canal-treated tooth becomes brittle without one.
Crowns also serve as the visible tooth on a dental implant and as the anchors for a dental bridge. And because a crown reshapes the whole tooth, it can correct a severely discolored or misshapen tooth where veneers or bonding would not be strong enough.
Signs that a tooth may need a crown include pain when you bite down, a visible crack or a chip that keeps growing, a filling that has broken or is too large to replace, sharp pain with hot and cold, or a tooth that has been treated with a root canal. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all, and a crack shows up only on an exam or X-ray.
The only way to know for sure is an exam. If a tooth hurts or has broken, call (713) 487-9618 for a same-day visit; if it is not urgent, book a check-up and we will tell you whether a filling, a crown, or nothing at all is the right answer.
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