Damaged or missing teeth can take a toll on the quality of your life— smile and confidence. These can lead to unsightly smiles, bite irregularities, speech issues, bone loss, more tooth loss and other dental woes.
Thanks to modern dental techniques and materials, myriads of dental restoration services like crowns and bridges are made available. Dental crowns and bridges are two separate dental procedures, but they can also go hand in hand to preserve damaged teeth and replace missing teeth so you feel more comfortable and confident.
A dental crown also known as a dental cap completely covers a broken or damaged tooth. It mimics the color, the size and the shape of a natural tooth. People will never notice that you are wearing a crown unless you tell them. Dental crowns treatment not only helps with facial aesthetics, but it strengthens the weakened tooth as well, allowing it to function normally again.
Dental bridges treatment is one of the best dental treatments to replace a missing tooth. Dental bridges can fill the gap created by missing teeth but a minimum of three dental crowns will be required. Two of those crowns are placed over your existing teeth (abutments) on either side of the missing tooth to support the third crown (replacement tooth) which is placed between them.
However, a LADS Certified Dentist will examine first the health of your gums and remaining teeth to determine if you are a good candidate for the dental crowns and bridges procedure. If not, or if you suffer from gum disease, jaw bone loss, tooth decay or have chips or cracks, you may have to undergo other treatments to ensure your mouth structure is strong enough to support a dental bridge.
Before a dental crown and dental bridge can be made, your LADS Certified Dentist will have to reduce the size of your tooth so that the crown or bridge will perfectly fit over it.
Unlike full removable dentures, crowns and bridges are permanently cemented onto existing teeth or implants which can only be removed by a professional dentist.
Most common materials used for dental crowns are all ceramic (porcelain-based), porcelain fused to metal, gold alloys and base metal alloys. The choice of material depends on the site of the damaged tooth, its function, your dental insurance coverage, aesthetic aspects, and other factors outlined by your professional dentist.
Dental crowns and bridges can rebuild the damaged smile and lost confidence created by missing and broken teeth. However, these require the same dental care as your natural teeth to last for years to come.
