Crown & Bridges

Crowns

Dental crowns can bring your smile back to its highest potential while improving your everyday function such as eating or speaking.

Dental decay, oral infections, and accidents can leave you with misshapened teeth and take away the confidence that you once had in your smile. Making corrections to these fractured or decayed teeth is critical not only for function but for the confidence you feel with an improved appearance.

Crown restoration is used to strengthen a tooth or improve its appearance. Crowns are most often used for teeth that are broken, worn, or partially destroyed by tooth decay.

Crowns are "cemented" or "bonded" onto an existing tooth and fully cover the portion of your tooth above the gum line.  The crown becomes your tooth's new outer surface. Crowns can be made from many materials, which are usually fabricated using indirect methods. Porcelain crowns are most often preferred because of their strength and translucency which looks the most like natural teeth.

Crowns or onlays (partial crowns) are needed when there is not enough tooth strength remaining to hold a filling.  Your crown will be created in a lab from your unique tooth impression, which allows a dental laboratory technician to examine all aspects of your bite and jaw movements. Your crown is then sculpted just for you so that your bite and jaw movements function normally once the crown is placed.

Made from metal amalgam, white composite, or white porcelain, dental crowns fit directly over a damaged tooth, bringing it back to its original form again.  Crowns are essentially a cap for your mishappened tooth.  Your crown will help to:

• Restore fractured or broken teeth
• Hold pieces of a broken tooth together
• Restore a severely decayed tooth

On top of everything else, dental crowns also play a major role in dental bridgework.

Bridges

A bridge may be used to replace missing teeth, help maintain the shape of your face, and alleviate stress on your bite.

A bridge replaces missing teeth with artificial teeth, looks great, and bridges the gap where one or more teeth are missing. Your bridge can be made from gold, alloys, porcelain, or a combination of these materials, and is bonded onto surrounding teeth for support. Dental bridges are not removable, but are permanently cemented into the patient's mouth.

Bridgework is similar to dental crown placement. Most of the time, two visits are required. The first appointment involves removing leftover enamel and making room for the bridge. Your dentist will also go through a thorough exam so a personalized bridge can be constructed. The second visit entails the placement of the newly made bridge, cemented it into place. Essentially, this procedure “bridges the gap” in a patient’s mouth. If you are receiving bridgework, expect to leave with a brand new, beautiful smile.

The success of any bridge depends on its foundation — the other teeth, gums, or bone to which it is attached. Therefore, it's very important to keep your existing teeth, gums, and jaw healthy and strong.

When natural teeth are removed many problems can occur. The remaining teeth drift, rotate and become crooked. An improper bite can develop, making it difficult to chew food properly. Spaces and gaps between teeth may also cause problems with speech and lack of self-esteem. People who have teeth replaced acquire a better ability to chew food and eat properly, renewed confidence while speaking, and better self-esteem.