A crown can make your tooth stronger and improve its appearance. It can help strengthen a tooth with a large filling when there isn’t enough tooth remaining to hold the filling. Crowns can also be used to attach a bridge, protect a weak tooth from breaking or restore one that is already broken. A crown is a good way to cover teeth that are discolored or badly shaped. It’s also used to cover a dental implant. If you are missing one or more teeth, you may notice a difference in chewing and speaking.
CEREC crown technology creates your custom, ceramic dental crown in our office, while you wait. Instead of taking dental impressions, matching your tooth shade and sending everything to an outside lab, a small sensor digitally scans and measures the exact dimensions, curves and color for your new crown. This information is sent to one of the two mills in our office where your crown is carved from a solid block of ceramic material. Once milled, your crown is fired in the CEREC kiln for maximum strength. The doctor then perfects the new crown and permanently cements the crown over the prepared tooth surface. This all takes place in one two-hour or less appointment.
Because they fit, feel and function like natural teeth, dental implants are quickly becoming a new standard in tooth replacement.
What makes dental implants feel completely comfortable and secure? Doctors use a titanium implant fixture that, over time, actually fuses to the living bone cells of the jaw. This union forms a strong and durable anchor for your new teeth, meaning there’s no slippage or other movement (which can sometimes happen with dentures). There are also no problems eating with dental implants, no need to repair them regularly and no more worrying about smiling freely and openly.
Dental implants typically have three parts:
1) The implant: A screw that serves as a root for your new teeth. This is what permanently attaches to your jaw.
2) The abutment: A permanent, but removable by your doctor, connector that supports and holds a tooth or set of teeth.
3) The crown (or prosthetic tooth): This is the part of the tooth that you can see. It’s usually made of zirconium or porcelain for durability and good looks.
You can use dental implants to replace a single tooth, multiple teeth or a full upper and/or lower set of teeth. If you need to restore a full arch, you may be a perfect candidate for the full mouth teeth replacement treatment. The doctor will place four to six implants and then attach a full arch of teeth.
If you have lost some or all of your natural teeth, dentures can improve your quality of life by replacing your missing teeth. Dentures can be made to look like your natural teeth. Getting a new complete or partial dentures begins with taking an impression of your mouth and identifying your natural gum and tooth shade. Your dentures are created from your mold and specifications and they are adjusted when you pick them up. Your dentist may recommend adjustments once a year or when necessary to ensure a proper and comfortable fit.
Fixed hybrid bridges are an alternative to traditional removable dentures. They aren’t the same thing as dental implants, but they are affixed to them. Surgically-placed dental implants replace the roots of missing teeth and create a stable base for fixed bridges. Fixed hybrid bridges offer exceptional stability while eating and speaking because they function like natural teeth. And they rarely need to be adjusted to accommodate changes in your jaw since they actively prevent bone loss. These and other benefits can help you enjoy an improved quality of life.
Implant-supported removable dentures are similar to permanent dentures in that they attach to implants but the difference is that they can be removed. Implants offer stability to dentures by providing an anchor to the jaw.
A filling replaces decay or small fractures and can protect a tooth from further decay. Silver-colored amalgam fillings are a mixture of metals including silver, copper, tin and mercury. They are the most researched dental material and are strong, durable, and less expensive. Composite resins, or tooth-colored fillings, provide good durability and resistance to fractures in small- to mid-size fillings that need to withstand moderate pressure from the constant stress of chewing. They can be used on either front or back teeth. They are a good choice for people who prefer that their fillings look more natural or for people who have concerns with the use of amalgam.
When it is time to fill your cavity, your dentist will first numb the area using local anesthesia. Once the area surrounding the cavity is numb, your dentist will remove the decay. Once the decay is removed, your dentist will place the filling in the cavity. If the cavity is deep, your dentist may place a liner over the cavity before placing the filling to protect the tooth nerve. When the filling is in place, your dentist will clean and polish it to perfection. Your lips and gums may be numb for the first few hours, so chew food carefully and avoid chewing on the part of your mouth where the filling is located. Some tooth sensitivity is normal during the first few weeks after a filling. You might also want to avoid triggers, such as extremely hot or cold foods.
A bridge may help restore your smile and increase the function of your teeth. Sometimes called a fixed partial denture, a bridge replaces missing teeth with artificial teeth and literally “bridges” the gap where one or more teeth used to be. 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 partial denture, which you can take out and clean, a fixed bridge can only be removed by a dentist.
Veneers refers to tooth-colored cover that is put on a tooth. Porcelain veneers are made by a dental lab working from a model provided by your dentist. These veneers are placed using an irreversible process where a small amount of enamel is taken from the tooth to accommodate the shell. These are an option for correcting stained, chipped, decayed or crooked teeth. Another veneer is made by adding composite material to the existing tooth and a dental lab is not involved. Composite veneers are less expensive and are sometimes referred to as bonding. This type of veneer or build-up works especially well for children and for a tooth that is smaller than normal or which is stained, chipped, pitted or abnormally shaped.
Everybody loves a bright white smile, and there are a variety of products and procedures available to help you improve the look of your smile. Many people are satisfied with the sparkle they get from daily oral hygiene and regular cleanings at our office, but if you decide you would like to go beyond this to make your smile look brighter, you should investigate all of your whitening options. Many toothpastes advertise whitening. Toothpastes only whiten through the action of mild abrasives and don’t actually “whiten” the teeth. Unlike bleaches, these ADA accepted products do not change the color of teeth because they can only remove stains on the surface. At home bleaching treatments with peroxide-containing whiteners actually bleach the tooth enamel. They typically come in a gel and are placed in a mouth guard. Products such as Crest White Strips are an over the counter product that provides some whitening. For better results, a custom tray can be made and a much stronger whitening agent can be used for superior results.
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