Dental crowns and bridges are designed to provide a strong and protective surface for teeth that have been weakened by decay. If you take good care of them, they can last for decades. But occasionally they need to be replaced. You may not realize it, but your old crowns can be recycled.
What’s In a Crown
Several types of crown materials are available, and your dentist will choose the type he or she feels is right for you. The most popular is the porcelain-fused-to-metal crown because of its natural appearance and durability. All-metal crowns, including gold crowns, are also still commonly used.
Almost all crowns contain some amount of metal such as gold, nickel, palladium, and chromium. Most are alloys, or mixtures, of several types of metal. Most of these metals can be recycled when they are properly separated from the crown.
Why Recycling Is Important
Recycling any kind of metal is beneficial to the environment. It keeps potentially harmful substances out of landfills and, at the same time, replaces precious metals that may be in short supply, such as gold. Dental scrap recyclers collect such metals and process them for reuse.
You may not think a single crown is going to make much of an impact on the environment but, each year, there are thousands of people just like you who lose a crown or bridge. The accumulated waste can become wasteful trash, or it can be recycled and repurposed—it’s up to you.
How to Recycle Your Old Crown
Many dentists recycle crowns and other dental scraps by collecting them in their offices and working with a dental scrap recycler. Others will give you back your crown after the procedure and give you an envelope to send it to a recycler. When dental scrap recyclers collect old crowns, they pay either the dentist or the consumer. It’s worth it to ask your dentist what will happen to your crowns and whether they will be recycled.
Dental scrap buyers perform an important service in keeping the earth healthy and conserving natural resources, such as metal. It may be disappointing to learn your crown has to be removed, but you can find the silver lining by doing your part to recycle.
Do you have an old crown or bridge that you’d like to recycle? Learn how Crown Buyers can give you cash for dental scrap!