A dental bridge provides an approach to filling the gap left by a missing tooth or teeth when dental implants cannot be done to poor bone density or another underlying medical condition that is complicated by surgery. Dental bridges come in several varieties, all of which are fixed in place once complete; these varieties include the conventional fixed bridge, the resin-bonded bridge, and the cantilever bridge. In your usual conventional and cantilever bridges, the surrounding teeth are shaped so as to fit a crown that will attach to the artificial tooth. Conversely, a resin-bonded bridge, while requiring less groundwork, demands the teeth and gums surrounding the gap are healthy and scarce of other dental work.
If your dentist decides your gum and teeth health are sufficient for dental bridges, then your first visit will involve the readying of the teeth intended to support your new bridge, as well as take impressions with a material similar to putty in order to generate the model for your bridge. The mold will be sent to a lab for creation and your dentist will affix a temporary bridge to prevent gum and/or tooth injury in the meanwhile. The last step is returning to your dentist for a final mounting and cementing of your permanent bridge.
A tooth that is heavily broken down or has a very large filling can be best protected and restored by a crown. A crown covers the entire exposed surface of the tooth and is made to resemble the original tooth in shape and size. A crown is also mandatory after the tooth has been treated with a root canal.
Crowns are also used to attach bridges, cover implants, or an existing filling is in jeopardy of becoming loose or dislocated. Crowns also serve an aesthetic use, and are applied when a discolored or stained tooth needs to be restored to its natural appearance.
Crowns can also whiten, reshape, and realign teeth to create a healthy, comfortable, and vibrant smile.
Traditionally crowns have been made from metal with a porcelain layer on top to try to give a natural looking tooth effect. However, the presence of metal leads to the appearance of a dark line around the gum margin.
New advances in materials and methodology has made possible the creation of crowns without the use of metals and at the same time without compromising on the strength of the crown. Most crowns now made in the Esthetic Smile Zone are metal free and create a beautiful natural appearance.
Procedures A crown procedure usually requires two appointments. In the first appt, the tooth is reduced in size to accommodate the crown. An impression is taken of the reduced tooth and a temporary crown placed over the reduced tooth.
At your second appointment your temporary crown will be removed, the tooth will be cleaned, and your new crown will be carefully placed to ensure the spacing and bite are accurate. Do crowns require any special care?
Crowns require care similar to your natural teeth. It is very important to floss and rinse properly in the area of the crown to avoid excess plaque or collection of debris around the restoration.
Also, certain behaviors such as jaw clenching or bruxism (teeth grinding) significantly shorten the life of a crown. Moreover, eating brittle foods, ice or hard candy can compromise the adhesion of the crown, or even damage the crown.
In addition to the routine metal ceramic crowns , we offer Procera, Cercon, 3M Lava, IPS Empress, IPS Emax and Zirkon metal free ceramics as a part of our practice
So how do you pick the right one for you? For some cost may be the issue, while others may find out from their dentist that a certain option simply is not possible. Others still may require a combination of the two. Whatever your case, there is a solution to your missing teeth and your beautiful smile could be just a trip to dentist away!
If yes, you are a candidate for our “Natural Looking Dentures.”We use the highest quality materials available to give you most realistic and well-fitting dentures.
A denture is a removable appliance that replaces missing teeth in either the upper or lower jaw or both. If you are missing all of your teeth then a complete set of upper and lower dentures is used to replace them. It may well be easier to remove one or two remaining teeth to allow a complete set of dentures to be worn. However if only a few of the teeth need replacing, then a partial denture is made. The fitting of a partial can prevent your existing healthy teeth from moving into the gaps following the tooth loss.
Dentures are generally fabricated from acrylic resins. However, advances in dental technology has now provided a number of different option to choose from.
PLASTIC DENTURES: This is the oldest and the most economic denture material.
FLEXIBLE DENTURES (VALPLAST): The most recent advance in dental materials has been the application of flexible materials for the fabrication of dental appliances. This material generally replaces the metal, and the pink acrylic denture material used to build the framework for standard removable partial dentures Flexible partial dentures are the comfortable, beautiful, and affordable choice.
The flexibility, combined with strength and light weight, provides total comfort and great looks! It is nearly unbreakable, is colored pink like the gums, can be built quite thin, and can form not only the denture base, but the clasps as well.
Though some dentures are held in place by their natural suction to your gums (sometimes with the use of a fixative), your dentures may also be attached in place with the use of dental implants. More and more of our patients are choosing to have dental implants placed to secure their dentures and give optimum stability.
Dentures undergo the natural wear and tear with usage. Also, with aging your dentures can begin to feel loose as the supporting bone tissue resorbs and the gum tissue shrinks. If the problem becomes severe, a new set of dentures are advisable. However in some instances it is possible that some simple modifications to your existing set of dentures may rectify the problem. You should always make sure you take care of your dentures and clean them frequently.