A crown is the portion of your tooth that extends above the gumline. In other words, the portion of the tooth that can be seen in a healthy mouth.
It is also used more colloquially to describe the dental procedure of having a prosthetic crown placed over a decayed, chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged tooth.
With this dental procedure code, the prosthetic crown is seated atop an abutment, which itself is attached to a dental implant. In this specific code, the crown can either be screwed or cemented to the abutment and is made of predominately base metal.
A crown of this nature is designated as such because less than 25% of its composition is of the noble metals gold, platinum, palladium, and silver, and its predominant makeup is of chromium and nickel.
Noble metals are known to interact well with human tissue, and hold up to corrosion and oxidation better than other metals. The higher the percentage of noble metals, the less likely a crown is to corrode or oxidize.
For example, Crown - Abutment Supported High Noble Metal and Crown - Abutment Supported Noble Metal, which contain a higher amount of noble metals are less likely to suffer from extreme oxidation.
Since the procedure for an abutment supported crown involves the placement of a dental implant, you may wish to read the related content concerning endosteal implants, abutments, or eposteal implants for the most complete picture of this procedure.
Additionally, for some crown procedures, an abutment is not used, and the crown is screwed directly atop the implant.
To look up and find more CDT dental codes from the American Dental Association, please visit our complete Dental Procedure Code Library.