ABSTRACT
Before the introduction of techniques to bond restorative materials to teeth, crowns were the only way of restoring teeth that can now be restored by these other techniques. At the same time, more patients are keeping more of their teeth for longer and are expecting faulty teeth to be repaired rather than extracted. Therefore, although there are fewer indications for crowning teeth than there were, more teeth are actually being crowned than ever before. About two million crowns per year are made in the UK National Health Service, representing two to three crowns per week per dentist. In the latest (1998) Adult Dental Health Survey in the UK, a third of all dentate adults had at least one crown and nearly half the 45-54 age group had one or more crowns. Similar numbers of crowns are being made in many other countries.
