If your teeth or worn down, broken or chipped and you’d like to cap or crown them, you don’t have to pay a dentist or a dental laboratory to make them for you; you can make the caps yourself. Making caps is one of the more challenging do-it-yourself dental procedures, but it is also one of the most rewarding. Plus the money you’ll save by making the caps yourself is more than worth the time and effort you’ll have to put into this process. You must purchase a dental tray, impression material, putty material and dental acrylic from your dentist or a dental supply lab.

Make the Impression

Take an impression of the tooth you want to cap. Squeeze the impression material into the dental tray.

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Insert the tray into your mouth, and press and mold it around the teeth. Do not slide the tray, and make sure to keep it straight.

Hold the tray in place on the teeth with your fingers for three minutes.

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Remove the tray from your mouth, and set it aside. Allow the impression material to harden for 24 hours.

Remove the impression material from the tray by popping it out.

Take an impression of the tooth you want to cap.



Remove the impression material from the tray by popping it out.

Make the Cap

Squeeze the putty material into the tooth areas in the dental impression you’d like to cap. Mold it like clay around the teeth. Let it sit in the dental impression at least 48 hours to harden 1. This will be your temporary cap.

Remove the putty from the impression. Place it on your tooth to check the fit. Fill any excess material around the edges with a metal fingernail file.

Take the putty or “cap” out of your mouth, and fill it with dental acrylic. Place it back on your tooth, and press down to seal it. Hold the cap on the tooth for five minutes with your fingers to make sure it adheres to the tooth.

Remove the excess dental acrylic from inside your mouth and around the cap with a toothpick.

Rinse your mouth with warm water and 1 tbsp. of baking soda.

Tips Avoid chewing on your cap for 48 hours. This tooth cap is just a temporary solution. To have a permanent crown made for the tooth, visit your dentist.