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Crowns and Bridges

WHAT ARE CROWNS?

A dental crown is a tooth-shaped "cap" that is placed over a tooth to restore its shape and size, strength or to improve its appearance. Crowns preserve the functionality of damaged teeth.

They may be used in the following situations:

  • If your tooth has undergone significant decay and there is not enough tooth structure remaining to support a filling.
  • If a large portion of your tooth has fractured and it cannot be built up using traditional composite bonding techniques.
  • If you have had a dental implant to replace a missing tooth, a crown will be fitted to the abutment of the titanium implant.
  • Following root canal treatment a crown is often needed to strengthen the tooth.
  • If you grind your teeth and have a poor diet, acid erosion may reduce your teeth to a point where the only option available is to crown them.

For a weak tooth or one with a large filling, a crown will protect the tooth and prevent any further chipping or cracking. Because of the heavy chewing forces placed on the back teeth, the addition of a crown is often a preferred course of treatment to a large filling.

The crowns may be made completely of porcelain, porcelain fused to metal or even gold.

What are bridges?

Dental bridges are false teeth anchored on neighbouring teeth in order to replace one or more missing teeth.

The false tooth is known as a pontic and is fused in between two crowns that serve as anchors by attaching to the teeth on each side of the false tooth and thereby bridging them together.

There are three main types of dental bridges:

TRADITIONAL FIXED BRIDGE

This is the most commonly used type of bridge and consists of a pontic fused between two porcelain crowns that are anchored on neighbouring teeth or implants. The pontic is usually made of either porcelain fused to metal or ceramics. These are fixed and cannot be removed. 

RESIN BONDED BRIDGES OR MARYLAND BONDED BRIDGES

These are opted for when the gap to be filled is in between the front teeth and when the adjacent teeth on either side of the missing tooth are strong and healthy without large fillings. The false tooth is made of porcelain and is fused to metal “wings” that are bonded to the adjacent teeth using resin that is hidden from view. 

CANTILEVER BRIDGES

This is the most commonly used type of bridge and consists of a pontic fused between two porcelain crowns that are anchored on neighbouring teeth or implants. The pontic is usually made of either porcelain fused to metal or ceramics. These are fixed and cannot be removed.

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