New Hanover County · Since 1987
Dental Crowns in Wrightsville Beach, NC
A crown covers a tooth that has lost too much structure to hold a filling. It is what keeps a cracked or heavily restored tooth in your mouth.
- Three doctors, one location
- Sedation available
- Most major plans accepted
- Written estimates before treatment
Understanding crowns
Teeth that have been filled and refilled over decades eventually run out of enamel to grip. A crown wraps the whole tooth and puts the chewing forces back through the root instead of through a fracture line.
This treatment in Wrightsville Beach
Wrightsville Beach has the highest household incomes in the region and a resident base that treats a good smile as part of the package.
Patients here tend to want the durable answer rather than the quick one, and they ask good questions about materials and longevity. We are happy to have that conversation in detail.
Summer traffic on Eastwood Road is worth planning around; a morning appointment is a different journey from a four o'clock one in July.
The island's year-round population is small, so almost everyone here already drives into Wilmington for medical appointments.
Harbour Island and the Banks Channel side send us most of our Wrightsville Beach patients, and the drawbridge is the only real variable in the trip.
We see patients from across Wrightsville Beach and the surrounding area, including Johnnie Mercer's Pier, the Loop, Banks Channel and the 28480 ZIP code.
New Hanover County is the built-out core of the region, growing around one percent a year, with roughly 21 percent of residents over 65 and the highest concentration of employer dental coverage in southeastern North Carolina.
We will show you the options at different price points and be clear about which difference you will notice and which you will not.
Twenty minutes over the drawbridge puts you in a chair with a doctor who does this work every week, not a cosmetic clinic that sees veneers twice a year.
You may be a candidate if
- A cracked tooth, or one that hurts on release when you bite
- A large old filling that keeps breaking away at the edges
- A tooth that has had a root canal
- A worn-down back tooth that no longer meets its opposite
- A front tooth that needs both strength and appearance
From first visit to finished result
- Exam and x-rayWe confirm the tooth is restorable and the nerve is healthy.
- PreparationThe tooth is shaped, we take a digital scan, and a temporary crown goes on.
- Lab fabricationThe permanent crown is built to your bite and shade.
- Fit and cementWe check contacts and bite, adjust, then cement it.
Afterwards
Sensitivity to cold for a week or two is normal. Floss it, do not skip it, because the margin at the gum is where a crowned tooth fails. Come to your cleanings and we will watch that margin for you.
Follow-up visits are short and we will schedule them at the start or end of the day if that works better around your week.
What it costs
Most dental plans cover crowns at a percentage after the deductible, often around half. Cost varies with the material and whether the tooth needs a build-up first. We run the estimate through your benefits before scheduling so the number you hear is the number you pay.
We can sequence larger cases across two benefit years where the clinical situation allows it, which puts two annual maximums against the same plan of treatment.
In their own words
Hear from Dr. Carter Lee
Dr. Lee on fixing only what needs fixing, and what it is like to hand a patient the mirror after a smile transformation.
Questions we get asked
Crown or extraction and implant?
If there is enough healthy tooth left to hold a crown, saving it is almost always the better call. When the tooth is split below the gum, it is not.
How long does a crown last?
Ten to fifteen years is typical and many last longer. The tooth underneath usually decides, not the crown.
How far is your office from Wrightsville Beach?
About 10 miles, or roughly 20 minutes via Eastwood Road (US-74) over the Heide Trask Drawbridge. We are at 1301 Physicians Dr in Wilmington, with parking at the door.
Do you see patients from Wrightsville Beach?
Regularly. Wrightsville Beach is part of our core service area in New Hanover County, and twenty minutes over the drawbridge puts you in a chair with a doctor who does this work every week, not a cosmetic clinic that sees veneers twice a year.
What are your hours?
Monday through Thursday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, and Friday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. Outside those hours, leave a message or use the appointment request form and we will come back to you with the first available time.
Dental Crowns · Wrightsville Beach, NC
Honest dentistry, since 1987.
We will tell you what needs doing now, what can wait, and what we would leave alone.
- Over 50,000 patients treated since 1987
- Comprehensive new patient exam including oral cancer screening
- Three doctors and a long-tenured team
- Most major dental plans accepted
Been told you need a lot of work somewhere else? Second opinions are welcome and we give them straight.
Request an appointment
We reply the next business day.
Please do not include Protected Health Information. For anything urgent, call (910) 762-0958.
