If you have two or more large cavities in your back teeth, a dentist may recommend you crown each tooth to keep it safe. The decay in your teeth may be too extensive or large to restore with traditional composite or porcelain fillings. Dental crowns can support and cover your teeth without compromising their integrity afterward. Learn why and how you need to crown your large cavities below.

Why Do Large Cavities Require Dental Crowns? 

A large or extensive cavity can destroy most of a tooth's anatomical crown or natural crown. Your natural crown consists of enamel. Although enamel is the hardest natural material in your body, decay can destroy it over time. The only way to restore a badly decayed tooth back to a natural state is to fill and crown it. 

Dentists often use restorative materials, such as amalgam, composite resin, and porcelain, to fill large tooth cavities. Although the materials replace the soft pulp tissues found inside a tooth, they may not provide the outside structural support and protection a tooth needs to remain healthy after treatment. Dental crowns can provide the support, protection, and full coverage teeth need to function properly after dentists fill them. 

Dental crowns come in a wide range of natural- or organic-looking materials, including all-porcelain, ceramic, porcelain-fused-to-metal, and zirconia. The materials come with many features that improve your oral health, including the ability to break down and grind food. Teeth restored without crowns can still hurt when you chew food or eat. 

If you're ready to fully restore your decayed teeth with fillings and dental crowns, schedule your dental appointment today. 

How Do You Crown Your Large Cavities?

A dentist will need to prepare your teeth before they fill and cap them. First, a dentist will have one of their dental assistants take X-rays of your teeth. The X-rays can reveal how deep and extensive the decay is in your teeth. The pictures can also detect whether or not the decay penetrated the bone tissue in your jaw. Large cavities can infect the jawbone if they go untreated for long periods of time.

If the decay is in your jawbone, a dentist will perform a root canal on each tooth that requires it. Root canals can remove the infectious matter from your teeth without causing further damage to your natural crowns. A dentist can fill each tooth with a restorative material of your choice, such as porcelain and composite resin. 

After a dentist completes the preparations and treatments above, they'll cap each tooth with porcelain, ceramic, or another crown of your choosing. 

Learn more by contacting a company like Jayhawk Dental, today.