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Affordable Alternative
To A Dental Crown

Clinical Content Reviewed By Last Modified: August 21, 2023
man looking at new smile in the mirror

A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap typically made of metal, resin, or porcelain that fits over your natural tooth or dental implant. Crowns serve a variety of purposes including strengthening weak teeth, protecting cracked teeth, covering severely discolored teeth, and holding dental bridges in place. 

Crowns can be expensive, typically ranging from $500 to $3,000 — depending on factors like insurance coverage, the material used, and the dentist you choose. In addition, the crown procedure requires the removal of tooth enamel, making it irreversible. While crowns can improve the health and appearance of your teeth, they are not ideal for everyone. This post lists some alternatives to crowns to help you decide which treatment option is right for you.

Table of Contents 

Reasons Why You Might Need a Crown

Crowns serve both medical and cosmetic purposes, and the right alternative for you depends on your specific dental health and goals. A crown might be ideal if you want to achieve the following:

Common uses for dental crowns
  • Restore a damaged tooth: Crowns can rebuild the form and restore the function of teeth that are cracked, chipped, worn down, or otherwise damaged.
  • Strengthen a decayed tooth: Crowns can support and protect decayed teeth with large dental fillings that may have little of the natural tooth structure left.
  • Conceal cosmetic imperfections: Crowns can also help conceal cosmetic issues like stained or discolored teeth or fillings.
  • Cover a root canal: Because root canals leave teeth weakened, crowns can help cover and strengthen back teeth after the procedure so that they have enough strength to bite and chew.
  • Hold a dental bridge in place: Dental bridges that replace missing teeth with artificial teeth are typically held in place by crowns that fit over your natural teeth on each side of the gap.
  • Cover a dental implant: When attached to implants surgically placed in your jaw to replace missing tooth roots, crowns can act as artificial teeth. 

5 Affordable Dental Crown Alternatives

Although some dental issues may require a crown, you can address others with alternative dental procedures. These options tend to be more affordable and less invasive than crowns.

1. Snap-On Veneers

Snap-on veneers aren’t a restorative treatment like crowns, but they can conceal many of the same issues. That’s why snap-on veneers may be a good choice if you’re considering crowns for purely cosmetic reasons like chipped or stained teeth. 

Unlike dental crowns, snap-on veneers don’t require the removal of any tooth enamel or even a visit to a dental professional. You make a mold of your teeth at home with an impressions kit and then receive the custom-made veneers by mail. The snap-ons fit snugly over your teeth like a mouth guard, improving the look of your smile. 

Snap-on veneers are significantly less expensive than dental crowns. A full set of Shiny Smile Veneers costs $570 and can last one to five years (and potentially even longer) with regular use.

2. Dental Onlays (Partial Crowns)

Like crowns, dental onlays can repair tooth cavities, cracks, and damage. However, these types of dental restorations are known as partial crowns because they only repair the cusps (the bumps on the top of the tooth).

Dental onlays are durable like crowns and can be made of resin, porcelain, or gold. Because they are constructed in a dental laboratory prior to placement, they require two dentist visits. If your original tooth is too decayed to be treated for a filling but not so decayed that you need a crown, an onlay offers a less invasive dental treatment that gets the job done. 

Like crowns, dental onlays usually last between 5 and 15 years. They tend to be more affordable than crowns, with an average cost of $650 to $1,200 per tooth. Price depends on such factors as the location of the tooth in your mouth, the material used for the onlay, and how much repair your tooth needs. 

3. Dental Inlays

Similar to an onlay, a dental inlay is a type of indirect restoration that repairs damage to the cusps on the chewing surface of the tooth. While inlays last longer than traditional fillings, they are less extensive than dental onlays. Like onlays, inlays require two in-office dental visits: one to prepare the tooth and take an impression and another to place the inlay after it is made by a lab. 

Inlays are ideal if you have a cavity between your teeth, as they seal the teeth to keep out bacteria, are easy to clean, and last a long time. Inlays typically have a similar price range to onlays ($650 to $1,200 per tooth), but you may find them somewhat less costly.

4. Dental Bonding 

Primarily designed to conceal cosmetic imperfections rather than repair them, bonding can help improve your smile when you don’t have serious dental issues. However, it can sometimes also provide tooth restoration for minor dental problems. 

Bonding involves applying a tooth-colored resin to your teeth, hardening it with a light, and then shaping it to your mouth. The process tends to be less extensive than the other procedures on this list, as it typically requires only one dental visit and removes less enamel than veneers or crowns. 

The procedure usually takes 30 to 60 minutes per tooth and can last for 3 to 10 years. Bonding typically costs $100 to $400 per tooth, making it significantly less expensive than onlays, inlays, and crowns.

5. Traditional Veneers

A purely cosmetic treatment, traditional veneers are thin tooth-colored shells that are bonded to the front of your teeth. Unlike crowns, which repair and improve teeth, veneers are a typical first choice in cosmetic dentistry to improve your smile’s appearance. They can conceal cracked, chipped, discolored, and misshapen teeth, as well as small gaps between teeth. 

Depending on the material used, the traditional dental veneer process may require two appointments: one to prepare your teeth and another to place the veneers. Because some of your natural tooth enamel will be removed, the procedure is irreversible. The veneers themselves won’t last forever, so you will eventually need to replace them. 

You can choose between porcelain veneers or those made of composite resin. Because resin is more affordable, it may make a better alternative to a crown than porcelain. Typically, composite veneers last five to seven years and cost approximately $250 to $1,500 per tooth. A more durable but expensive material, porcelain usually lasts 10 to 15 years and costs around $925 to $2,500 per tooth.

What Does Getting a Crown Involve?

On your first dental visit, your dentist will begin by numbing and cleaning the treatment area. Next, the dentist will prepare the tooth surface for your new crown by using a drill to remove some of your natural enamel. Then, you’ll have impressions taken of your teeth with either a physical mold or a digital scanner. 

The dentist will send these impressions to a lab for manufacturing, which usually takes two to three weeks. You’ll go home with a temporary plastic crown (also known as a provisional crown) to protect your tooth. When the permanent crown is ready, you’ll have a second appointment where the dentist will remove your temporary crown, check the fit of your new crown, and bond it to your tooth. 

Why a Crown May Not Be Right for You

Although crowns can strengthen your teeth and improve your smile, they are not the right choice for everyone. Below are some reasons why you may want to consider an alternative to traditional dental crowns. 

Why a dental crown may not be right for you

They May Be Cost-Prohibitive 

With a cost of $500 to $3,000, not everyone can afford a crown. Crowns may be partly covered by insurance when medically necessary. If your insurance doesn’t cover crowns or you don’t have insurance, however, the procedure may be cost-prohibitive. Depending on your dental issue, you may find that some less expensive treatments can repair your teeth or improve your smile just as effectively.

You Only Have Minor Tooth Decay  

If you have only minor tooth decay, you may not need a crown as dentists can often repair the tooth with a filling. Depending on the material, fillings cost $135 to $325 each and can last 10 to 15 years or longer. Fillings can often be completed in a single visit, making them a less time-consuming, cheaper, and more suitable treatment for your issue. 

You Have Cosmetic Imperfections Not Medical Issues

Crowns are commonly used both to repair the teeth and conceal dental issues. If you just want to improve the look of your smile, you may prefer alternatives such as snap-on veneers. In addition to being less expensive and invasive than crowns, they improve the appearance of a whole arch of teeth rather than just a single tooth.

Shiny Smile Veneers Are an Affordable Alternative for Cosmetic Dental Issues

 

Shiny Smile snap-on veneers are an affordable alternative to crowns for cosmetic dental issues. Like crowns, they can cover up teeth that are discolored, chipped, or broken to completely restore your smile. Unlike crowns, they don’t require you to spend hours in the dentist’s chair or have any enamel removed. 

Shiny Smile costs $570 for a full veneer set (upper and lower) or $370 for a single arch, which is much less expensive than the range of $500 to $3,000 you can pay per tooth for crowns. Shiny Smile veneers also offer payment plans.

To get your new veneers without leaving your home, simply order online. We’ll send you a kit you can use to take impressions and photos of your teeth. After you send the kit back, you’ll get your custom-made veneers — and your brand-new smile — in just a few weeks.  

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