Patients with damaged teeth, large cavities or have undergone root canal therapy, may require a dental crown to help provide strength and stability. Dental crowns are a restorative dental treatment that can prevent these teeth from incurring further damage and breakage. In addition to restoring the integrity of a damaged or weakened tooth, a dental crown also restores the aesthetic qualities of the tooth with the look and feel of a natural tooth.
When one or two teeth are missing between teeth, a dental bridge can be used to replace them. The bridge maintains the beauty of your smile, while at the same time, restoring the missing chewing or biting surface of the teeth.
Dental Crowns
Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Atlanta expertly crafts dental crowns with skill and state-of-the-art technology, ensuring that your crown will be both functional and aesthetically beautiful. Dental crowns are used to cover decayed, cracked or damaged teeth. When a dentist diagnoses that you need a crown, it may be to strengthen a weak tooth or enhance a tooth’s appearance by covering the damaged tooth. A dental crown functions like a “cap,” that sits over an existing tooth, covering the entire structure above the gum line of the tooth. A crown seals the damaged area and restores normal function to the tooth, enabling you to smile confidently and chew without pain.
Dental Crown Procedure
A dental crown can be completed in two office visits. During the first visit, an impression is taken of the tooth to be covered, and a temporary crown is placed in the mouth. The permanent crown is carefully designed in a qualified laboratory, exclusively devoted to crafting natural looking tooth replacements. During the procedure, all the damaged tooth material is removed. At your returning visit, the permanent dental crown is fitted comfortably and cemented into place for a permanent restoration.
Dental Bridges
A dental bridge may be part of your recommended treatment plan. Our prosthodontists lend a specialist’s viewpoint to all restorative dental bridges and restorative dental procedures. We carefully plan your treatment to give you a fully functional, comfortable and long-lasting solution to missing teeth.
If you’re missing one or more teeth, you may feel discomfort when chewing and speaking and embarrassed because of your smile. Dental bridges can help restore your natural, beautiful smile. A dental bridge is a restoration used to replace a missing tooth or teeth. The adjacent teeth are filed down, and a dental bridge is placed on top, supporting an artificial tooth in the middle. This can help fill in a gap where a tooth is missing from decay, age or trauma.
Other alternatives to dental bridges are dental implants and partial dentures. Dental bridges replace missing teeth with artificial teeth and literally “bridge” the gap where one or more teeth used to be. Dental bridges can be made from gold, alloys, porcelain or a combination of these materials and are attached to surrounding teeth for support. Unlike a removable bridge, which you can take out and clean, only a dentist can remove fixed dental bridges.
The gap left from a missing tooth needs to be addressed to avoid the shifting of adjacent teeth. Bridges use the two surrounding teeth to hold up the false tooth, called a pontic, above the gum line to act as a replacement. Two crowns that are fused to the pontic and bonded to the top of the surrounding teeth sup¬port the bridge. This requires that the dentist remove a small part of the enamel from the adjacent teeth to properly bond the crowns over the top and keep the bridge in place. Bridges are most often made with porcelain to blend in with the patient’s smile cosmetically. Other alternatives to dental bridges are dental implants and partial dentures.
You don’t need to be embarrassed by the blemished smile that missing teeth can cause. Contact Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Atlanta to find out your best option for replacing those missing teeth.