Dental crowns and bridges are dental treatments that will restore damaged teeth or replace multiple missing ones.
What Are Dental Crowns & Bridges?
Crowns & bridges are used for different reasons depending on the state of the patient’s teeth. Here’s how both are used and function to improve our patient’s oral health.
How do Crowns Work?
A crown is used to entirely cover or “cap” a damaged or decayed tooth. A crown will strengthen a damaged tooth and improve your bite’s appearance, shape, and alignment. Crowns are also used on the top of an implant to provide a shaped tooth for structure and function. Ceramic crowns will be matched to the color of your natural teeth so that no one can tell the tooth has been replaced.
How do Bridges Work?
A bridge may be recommended by the doctor if you’re missing more than one tooth. Gaps left by missing teeth will eventually lead to receding gums and cause the remaining teeth to shift into empty spaces, resulting in an awkward bite. The imbalance caused by missing teeth can also lead to gum disease and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.
Bridges will span the space where the teeth are missing. Bridges are cemented to the natural teeth or implants surrounding the space left by missing teeth. These teeth are called abutments and serve as anchors for the bridge. The replacement tooth called a pontic, is attached to the crowns that cover the abutments. As with crowns, ceramic bridges can be matched to the color of your natural teeth.
Why Should I Get a Crown or Bridge?
The main advantage of getting any restorative procedure is to help maintain good oral health and chewing ability. A fractured tooth will eventually break and require further costly treatments. Bridge & Crown restorations will help prevent that. Additionally, restorations restore the aesthetics to your great smile.
What Can I Expect During the Procedure?
Dental Crown
Getting a dental crown usually takes two visits to our East El Paso dentist. The dentist will numb your mouth with an anesthetic at your initial visit, then prepare the tooth for the crown. They will clear away any decay and shave down the tooth so the crown will fit once firmly in its place.
Dental Bridge
A dental bridge will involve 2 dental crowns and one or more replacement teeth. The crowns are designed to attach to the 2 teeth on either side of the gap of missing teeth, which are referred to as the abutment teeth. Once the crowns are completed, your dentist will take an impression of your teeth that will be used to create the dental bridge on the first visit. To protect the area while you wait for the custom bridge to be ready, your dentist will provide you with a temporary bridge.
Once your permanent dental bridge is completed and ready for installation, you will return to the dentist where they will remove the temporary bridge from your teeth. At that point, he will check the fit of the new bridge. Getting a good fit may require more than one appointment, but once the fitting stage is finished, your dental bridge treatment will be complete.
How to Make Your Crown or Bridge Last
The exact lifespan of any restoration will depend on how well you take care of it. Like your natural teeth, you should continue to brush and floss daily, and check in with Celebrity Smiles twice a year. You should also avoid biting down hard or using your teeth as a tool on anything which could damage the restoration. With the proper maintenance and scheduled visits, your crown or bridge can last a lifetime.
Schedule a Dental Crown & Bridge Consultation Today!
Our dental staff is highly informed and patient so we can answer an
