The finishing touch of a dental implant is the addition of your new prosthetic tooth, called a dental crown. This crown (typically milled from a small ceramic block) will have been selected to match the color of the rest of your teeth, and then shaped accordingly until it becomes an exact replica of the tooth it's replacing. It's attached to the implant itself (which was placed during your prior implant surgery), and the job is done. This might seem anticlimactic. After all, you may have been living with a provisional prosthetic crown during the healing process—largely for cosmetic purposes. So why couldn't you just have kept the provisional crown? 

The Final Step

It can almost feel like the final step of your implant dentistry journey can be skipped. Yes, you have an appointment with your dentist to fit your final dental crown, but the provisional crown looks the part and feels natural, so what's the harm in keeping it? The trouble is that it's not intended to be kept for long.

Not Quite As Realistic

While a provisional dental crown should look relatively natural, it won't be quite as realistic as the permanent crown. Provisional crowns are often acrylic, as opposed to the ceramic permanent tooth. Ceramic is the favored material for many dental restorations, as its properties replicate the translucence of dental enamel. 

Not a Load-Bearing Tooth

The provisional crown won't be as secure as a permanent restoration either. It's not a load-bearing tooth, unlike the implant's permanent crown (and your natural teeth, of course). It has not been permanently attached to the underlying implant in your jaw, so one of the dangers of keeping a provisional crown is that it will simply fall out one day. It just can't withstand the daily pressure of biting and chewing food.

Quick to Tarnish

Even if the provisional crown remains in place, it will tarnish quite quickly. It might have looked natural when it was first installed, but some discoloration can be expected if it's left in place for longer than recommended (which is only the duration of your healing period, after which the permanent crown will be ready). 

You may be tempted to skip the addition of your permanent crown, thinking that the provisional crown will be sufficient. It won't be. And in any event, you've already completed the intensive part of the process, so it's in your best interest (and that of your dental health) to see the job through. It's practically certain that you'll regret it if you don't.

Contact a dentist for more information about implant dentistry.