Crowns & Bridges

Crowns

A crown or “cap” is placed over badly damaged or decayed teeth when a filling or onlay can’t replace enough of the tooth. Crowns can also be used to improve a tooth’s appearance if it is misshapen or badly discolored.

Crowns can be all gold, porcelain fused to metal (PFM), or all ceramic. Gold or PFM crowns are stronger and therefore often used for back teeth.  All-ceramic crowns have much better esthetics and are usually used on teeth that can be seen when you smile. 

Crowns are recommended on teeth that have had root canals because incidences of breakage after the root canal is extremely high if the tooth is not covered with a crown.

Bridges

Bridges replace one or more missing teeth and are supported by natural teeth. A crown is prepared for each tooth on both sides of the space and a false tooth or “pontic” is fused between the crowns. When the crowns are placed, the false tooth fills the space left by the missing tooth or teeth.

In order to place a bridge, the missing tooth must have an anchor tooth on either side of it and those teeth must be healthy enough to support the extra load in your bite. When the teeth on either side of the space have no previous dental work then it is highly recommended that an implant be placed instead of a bridge so that unnecessary damage to the anchor teeth can be avoided. 

Click here for more information for crowns and bridges made here at Beyond Beautiful Smiles.

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