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 constructed predominately of base metal, and covers the entire remaining portion of the tooth. 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 with human tissue well, holding 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, as is the case with crown procedures: Crown - Full Cast High Noble Metal and Crown - Full Cast Noble Metal, which contain a higher amount of noble metals.
Use of a full, base metal crown, as with this dental procedure code, is done when the strength of metal is preferred, and when repair is needed outside the "smile zone," as with back molars.
To prepare for this type of crown, a dentist will first remove any decayed or weakened areas of the tooth, reducing its overall shape to accommodate the crown.
A mold of your bite will then be made, so the custom crown can be fabricated off-site at a dental lab. If desired, a temporary crown can be fitted until the custom crown is completed.
Once the custom crown arrives at the dentist's office, any temporary crown used as a place-holder will be removed, and you will be fitted with the new crown.
To look up and find more CDT dental codes from the American Dental Association, please visit our complete Dental Procedure Code Library.