In today’s economy, I am often asked which dental restoration is going to last the longest. Without a doubt, cast gold restorations will hold up to the test of time. Unlike porcelain crowns, whether they are all porcelain or fused to metal, gold restorations will never break or fracture. Gold wears similarly to natural enamel, unlike porcelain restorations which are more abrasive than enamel. The edges of gold crowns can be burnished to the enamel, a property of gold known as malleability. This process provides for a near seamless integration to the natural tooth.
In my own mouth, I have had cast gold restorations placed in my back teeth, and never once has anyone ever noticed a “gold tooth.” At Point Family Dentistry, we understand no two people are alike, and offer a wide array of solutions to meet your dental needs. If a long serving restoration with a proven track record is what you want for your mouth, ask Dr. Isaacson about cast gold restorations.
It is great to be able to go in and fix a tooth once it has been damaged, but for me I do not think that I would want a gold cast. I wonder how well the gold cast actually sticks to the bit of tooth already there, is there a special “glue” that adheres the gold cast to the tooth or is it something within the tooth and the cast that allows for the gold cast to stay. Not only what holds it on, but will it stay on after the many things ones teeth goes through, whether it be hot and cold foods, sticky and hard food, etc.
This is a good question. The new age cements we have available to us today, allow us to bond to metal, by using a sulfide methacrylate primer on the inside surface of the crown. Then we can bond tooth to metal, using a resin cement and a bonding protocol we use everyday in dentistry.