Crowns
To replace missing tooth structures, the remaining structure is surrounded by a covering made of metal, porcelain, Zirconium or a combination of them.
Advantages:
• Much stronger than dental fillings.
• Cover most of the exposed portion of a tooth and does not decay.
• Last longer than dental fillings (normally lasts for 5 to10 years but often last much longer depending on patient’s care).
Crowns serve to:
• Restore fractured teeth, failed filling treatments, or badly decayed teeth.
• Mask discolored teeth, re-align rotated teeth and reshape malformed teeth.
• Strengthen weak and brittle teeth following their root canal treatment; thus preventing their extractions.
• Cover sensitive teeth, such as:
o Teeth with exposed sensitive dentin (inner sensitive layer of the tooth) due to wear of the natural teeth by age.
o Cracked teeth.
Steps:
• Tooth is prepared (reshaped) by reducing its size to fit a crown.
• An impression of this section of the mouth is taken.
• A temporary crown made of plastic or metal is fabricated to cover the prepared tooth.
• Impressions sent to the dental laboratory to fabricate the crown.
• The final crown is adjusted and cemented onto the tooth.
BRIDGES
To replace missing teeth, a bridge is fixed onto two or more adjacent teeth. The bridge is made of metal, porcelain, Zirconium or a combination of them.
Advantages:
• Prevent movement of neighboring teeth.
• Prevent loss of additional teeth.
• Prevent tooth decay.
• Prevent gum disease.
Disadvantages:
• Bridges require the reshaping and reduction of adjacent teeth (to be able to accommodate the bridge), which is why implants are a more recommended in order to preserve the healthy teeth.
Bridges serve to:
• Restore previously extracted or missing teeth, especially if the surrounding teeth are non-vital or decaying.
• Improve appearance of front teeth and restore missing front teeth.
• Connecting loose teeth in order to stabilize them.
Steps of treatment:
• Neighboring teeth are prepared (reshaped) by reducing their size to accommodate the bridge’s crown.
• An impression of this section of the mouth is taken.
• A temporary bridge made of plastic is fabricated to cover the prepared teeth and to restore the missing tooth.
• Impressions are sent to the dental laboratory to create the crown.
• The final crown is adjusted and cemented onto the tooth
