A dental crown is a tooth-shaped "cap" that is placed over a tooth -- to cover the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and improve its appearance. The crowns, when cemented into place, fully encase the entire visible portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line.

When a tooth has lost considerable crown structure, a new crown can be fabricated from a dental laboratory that mimics the natural tooth in form and function.

A crown may be indicated in teeth that have received root canals, teeth with large cavitated lesions, teeth that have undergone trauma or teeth that are genetically abnormal such as peg laterals.