A dental crown, sometimes called a cap, completely covers your damaged tooth. It is cemented into place and offers a strong, solid, good-looking replacement for a natural tooth. A crown is created in a lab and is made from models your dentist makes with impressions, so it fits your mouth perfectly; replicating the shape, size and position of your severely damaged tooth.

Reasons your dentist would recommend a dental crown :

• To replace a large filling that no longer has enough tooth structure to continue to fill the cavity
• To protect a weak tooth from further chipping, breaking or fracturing
• To restore a fractured/cracked tooth
• To cover a poorly shaped tooth or discolored tooth
• To attach a dental bridge (see more below)
• To protect and restore a tooth that has had a root canal
• To cover a dental implant

Type of dental crowns :

Metal free ceramic crown :

These dental crowns are very common and provide optimum aesthetic results. They look natural and can be very aesthetic. The new metal-free crowns eliminate the ugly black line you may have seen next to the gum line on older crowns. Metal free framework beneath the porcelain gives excellent aesthetic qualities to make the final restoration extremely natural looking.

Ceramic-fused-to-metal crowns :

These dental crowns contain an inner metal casting ceramic baked over it. Estheticly not upto the metal free ceramic crown.

Dental Bridge

Missing a tooth and having a gap in between your teeth isn't just unsightly, it can cause other problems. Talking and chewing may be difficult. Teeth adjacent to the space will eventually begin to shift into the empty space which will affect your bite, may lead to gum disease and possibly even jaw joint disorders like temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues. One way to take care of a gap caused by a missing tooth is with a dental bridge. There are removable dental bridges, also called partial dentures, that can be removed and cleaned like dentures, and there are permanent dental bridges, sometimes called fixed partial dentures.

Dental bridges help you:

• Restore the ability to chew and speak properly
• Maintain the shape of your face, preventing lip or face collapse
• Distribute the forces in your bite to alleviate stress on other teeth
• Prevent remaining teeth from shifting out of position and into the gap

There are several types of dental bridges. Each bridge is made with different materials and is better suited for certain areas of the mouth and for certain types of situations. Your Dental Associates dentist will recommend the best type of dental bridge based on your individual circumstances.