Dental Crowns & Bridges

Dental crowns and bridges are the cosmetic answer to replacing lost or damaged teeth. They not only make eating and talking a pleasurable experience again, but they can also vastly improve the confidence of the wearer.

What is a Dental Crown?

Consider a dental crown like a cap that is placed over the top of a tooth, made of porcelain, gold or metal. A crown’s job is to become the new tooth, having been designed to cover a cracked, broken, discoloured tooth or root canal treated teeth.

When Do I Need a Crown?

Your dentist at Glen Forrest Dental will advise when a crown is required. The common reasons are:

To replace a large filling. Sometimes when the tooth’s original filling has become loose or falls out, to replace it may mean an even bigger filling. This could threaten to damage the surrounding tooth or cause nerve inflammation under the tooth. A dental crown is a much better, long-term solution before you run out of tooth structure that can support a crown.
To protect or restore a fractured tooth. A split or fractured tooth can cause you pain and may eventually fragment. Splitting or fracturing of a tooth is most common when the older method of amalgam fillings were used. A crown restores the tooth and protects the cusps (rounded tips) from splitting apart.
To secure a bridge. When you’ve lost a tooth entirely, sometimes a porcelain bridge is required. This bridge is often cemented to teeth either side. If the teeth beside the bridge are at risk of cracking or are discoloured, Glen Forrest Dental Care will recommend a crown over these teeth to assist with the bridge staying firmly in place.
To cover discoloured or worn teeth. Time and/or illness can cause a tooth to darken in colour or wear down. For cosmetic purposes, as much as the further use of your teeth, Glen Forrest Dental Care would recommend a dental crown after you’ve worked through any pre-treatments.
After root canal treatment. To complete root canal treatment, we must hollow out a tooth. This leaves the tooth prone to fractures and bacterial infection, so a crown is recommended.

How Are Dental Crowns Fitted?

The process begins with your dentist reducing the size of your natural tooth so that the newly fashioned crown can sit over it. He/she will then make a mould of your tooth and send it off to the dental lab where a new tooth will be fashioned in a colour to match the rest of your teeth.

In the meantime, a temporary crown will be placed over your reduced tooth. This will be easily removed by your dentist when the new crown is ready to be positioned. Your new dental crown will be fixed in place with dental cement.

What is a Dental Bridge?

A bridge is a ceramic tooth-like structure designed to fill a gap that has been left by an extracted or missing tooth/teeth.

How Do Dental Bridges Work?

Basically, a dental bridge spans the gap where the old tooth/teeth were. Usually made of porcelain, a bridge can be attached via two different methods:

Cemented to crowns on either side of the gap. This involves reducing the size of the natural teeth on either side of the gap and placing a crown over them. Then the bridge to fill the gap is cemented to each crown.
Cemented to implants in the gum, where the gap is. Here, small metal implants are put in place in the gap and when the implants have healed, the bridge is cemented to the implants.

Just like crowns, a bridge can be made of a variety of materials. Depending on where the bridge will be and how it has to perform will determine what it’s made of.

Once completed, your bridge will be imperceptible to your family and work colleagues, and it will strengthen your teeth’s performance.

When Are Dental Bridges Required?

If a gap in your teeth is left untended, the other teeth can eventually turn or shift into the empty space, resulting in a bad bite which can affect speech, cause frequent biting of the inner cheek and mouth breathing rather than through the nose.

So to replace one or more missing teeth is the first reason to have a dental bridge put in. It’s also a great alternative to dentures which can slip around, be uncomfortable to wear and may be a little obvious to those around you.

The Benefits of Dental Bridges and Crowns

They will usually last between 7 to 15 years. For this, you must stick to good dental hygiene of brushing twice-daily and flossing once. Dental crowns and bridges could last even longer if you’re a stickler for 5-star dental hygiene. This also includes regular preventative dental health visits to Glen Forrest Dental Care.
They’re imperceptible to the naked eye.
They make eating and speaking easy again.
They don’t slip around like dentures.
They improve confidence and get you smiling again.
They reduce the possibility of disease in exposed gums.

Think You May Need Dental Care?

Glen Forrest Dental Care proudly provides outstanding all-round dental care to greater Perth. Dental crowns and bridges are one of our specialties.

We understand that great dental care is seeing skilled hands working together with a calm, professional attitude. That’s what we deliver – along with a promise: to treat you with the same reassuring, gentle care that we afford all of our clients. From your very next visit your teeth will be maintained in the best possible way and all the while, using the latest state-of-the-art equipment to make it a very modern, easy experience.

To seek further information or to book an appointment for a dental bridge or crown procedure, please call us today for an expert opinion and what to do next.