What is a crown ?
If your teeth are weakened or damaged by decay or fillings, crowns add strength and improve the look of your smile.
Crowns are permanent ‘caps’ shaped like natural teeth. Usually ceramic for front teeth and back teeth and sometimes gold for molars, crowns are custom-made to perfectly fit your tooth. Newer ceramic crowns look like porcelain crowns and are strong enough to be used in all areas of the mouth. These blend seamlessly with your teeth and avoid unsightly black lines forming around the margin of the crown.
What happens when you get a Crown?
Firstly, you may have an X-ray to check the condition of the entire tooth. Then your dentist will inject local anaesthetic and shape your tooth in preparation for the new crown. A mould of your tooth is taken using a putty-like material, so the crown can be made to fit your tooth perfectly.
It may take two to three for the crown to be ready, so your dentist will fit a temporary crown. At the second appointment, your dentist will remove the temporary crown and cement the new crown in place.
What is a bridge?
As well as improving the appearance of your smile, bridges help prevent common problems arising from missing teeth, such as bite misalignment, tilting teeth and sagging facial muscles. On average, bridges may last for ten years and even longer.
How are Bridges fitted?
Made of porcelain and/or metal, the replacement teeth in bridges are designed to match the colour of your natural teeth. There are many bridge designs. In most bridges, false teeth are attached to your natural teeth on either side of the space. Typical bridge involve special preparation of adjacent teeth for crowns to fit on top. These crowns are permanently attached to a false tooth in the center.
Caring for your bridge
Bridges are cemented in place, so they can’t be removed for cleaning. To keep your natural teeth healthy, you should clean the gap under the bridge with special dental floss. We will also teach you how to floss in between.