Theriot Family Dental

Baton Rouge Metal-Free Dentist

At Theriot Family Dental Care, we offer metal-free dentistry using high-tech, high-strength ceramic materials to make crowns that look natural. And we only use composite fillings. If you have any metal allergies or sensitivities, you won’t have to worry about metallic restorations being placed in your mouth.

Why Metal-Free Dentistry?

Metal-free dentistry is a way to receive aesthetic, biocompatible restorations for broken, worn, or decayed teeth.

Aesthetics

Porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns were developed in the late 1950s to strengthen the porcelain and prevent stress cracks. To prevent the metal from showing through translucent porcelain, ceramists conceal the metal with an opaque layer of porcelain. The opaque layer works, but it leaves the crown without natural beauty and translucence. Today’s dental crowns, made of high-tech, high-strength ceramic, don’t need a metal foundation. They can look so natural that it can be very difficult to tell that they’re actually a tooth replacement.

Allergies and sensitivities

Crowns and other dental restorative materials can contain nickel, beryllium, or chromium—metals that can cause sensitivity reactions that are sometimes subtle. If you have metal allergies or sensitivities—or want to limit your exposure to metal in your body—we offer metal-free alternatives.

Advantages of All-Ceramic Crowns

  • Aesthetics – They match the color and translucence of your natural teeth. You don’t have to worry about a metal foundation eventually showing through at your gumline.
  • Durability – High-strength ceramics are metal free yet extraordinarily strong and flexible. Your crowns won’t develop stress cracks from the forces of biting and chewing.
  • Biocompatible – If you have metal allergies or sensitivities, they don’t provoke a reaction.

The before-and-after photos below show opaque porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns that were removed and replaced with metal-free ceramic crowns. The metal-free crowns have natural color, translucence, and gloss.

Before metal-free crowns photo of opaque porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns
BEFORE
After metal-free crowns photo of natural-looking ceramic crowns
AFTER

 

Zirconia Crowns and Bridges

We use BruxZir® zirconia crowns and bridges. Zirconium dioxide is an extraordinarily strong ceramic often referred to as ceramic steel. It will support a dental bridge and withstand the forces of chewing and grinding on back teeth. An all-zirconia crown will closely match your natural tooth color.

High-translucency BruxZir Esthetic crowns and bridges are veneered with porcelain. BruxZir Esthetic is ideal for crowns and bridges on front teeth and has lifelike color and luster.

Metal-Free Fillings

We fill teeth with a metal-free composite that has several advantages over amalgam fillings:

  • Bonds to your tooth and strengthens it
  • Preserves more of your healthy tooth structure
  • Looks natural and closely matches your natural tooth color

Interested in Metal-Free Dentistry?

Call our office to schedule an appointment for an exam or complete our Request an Appointment form.