Teeth- Why are crowns made of porcelin?

[gorcorps]

Ceramics are very strong under compression. They just have terrible tensile and shear strengths. That's why floor tiles and teeth make sense

 

[AdamK47]

Its replacing gold too. I've got a full zirconia crown on a 2nd molar.

I had zirconia veneers put on just recently. Zirconia has come a long way in terms of having a natural look. It won't chip or crack like porcelain will. It's much more expensive, but it's worth it.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Most dental gold is only 16k gold. At current gold price of $1,350, typical crown has around $72 worth of gold. If you were to sell that gold to a refiner, you might get 90% since they have to refine that 16k gold to .9999 pure. So that gold dental crown you paid thousands for is really worth about $65 in the secondary market.

It's not the cost of the material but how long it lasts for that concerns me. I hate dental work, the longer i can avoid replacement crowns the better.

 

[JEDI]

I had zirconia veneers put on just recently. Zirconia has come a long way in terms of having a natural look. It won't chip or crack like porcelain will. It's much more expensive, but it's worth it.

why not gold then?

 

[Anubis]

Ceramics are very strong under compression. They just have terrible tensile and shear strengths. That's why floor tiles and teeth make sense

this

fun fact

ceramics dont fail in compression

 

[AdamK47]

why not gold then?

Nah, gold teeth are for those that pirate software. I prefer the natural look.

 

[Midwayman]

They want to match the throne?

 

[z1ggy]

What radio stations are guys tuning into with all those gold fillings???

 

[dullard]

I have one crown. It is porcelain. It shattered on day #2 of me having it when I bit into cereal (you know those jawbreaking Cracklin' Oat Bran types of cereals). It has been a couple of months, but I am putting off having it replaced. I have a year warranty, so I might as well milk that for every day possible to maximize the chance that the next crown will last for life.