Dental Crowns & Bridges In Austin, TX
Dental crowns and bridges are excellent options for saving teeth that have been badly decayed or treated with a root canal. Another reason for requiring a crown or bridge would be severe staining which can not be corrected with bleaching alone and restoring fractured teeth.
Difference Between Crowns & Bridges
A crown and bridge are essentially the same thing in that they are both constructed out of ceramic, although there are several different materials which may be used depending on an individual situation or patient preference. A crown serves as a restoration for a single tooth, while a bridge serves to restore multiple teeth. When a tooth is extracted or is simply missing from birth, a bridge is an excellent alternative to restore the missing tooth. Compared to implants, bridges are a more immediate solution.
Dental crowns are hollow, tooth-shaped shells that slip over teeth to protect and strengthen them. Since the crown encases a tooth completely, the restoration is a good choice if you want to conceal an imperfection. Crowns are commonly used after a root canal to protect an individual tooth.
Bridge Procedure
Once the teeth are prepared, an highly accurate impression of the teeth are made and a temporary bridge made of resin composite (an extremely durable BPA free plastic material) is seated to maintain the space of the missing tooth. The bridge is then placed a week or two later as opposed to an implant which may take months to integrate.
Bridges are also a great alternative to replacing multiple teeth and are fixed onto the abutment teeth, so you never need to worry about removing anything, much like you would in a removable partial denture. Crowns and bridges are similar to your natural teeth in both look and feel, and will need to be brushed and flossed like any other tooth.
Crowns Procedure
The first step in the dental crown process involves decreasing the size of your tooth to ensure that the crown will fit over it easily. After your Austin, TX dentist files your tooth, he'll make an impression of your mouth, which will be sent to a dental laboratory that creates the crown. You'll receive a temporary crown, which you'll wear for the next two or three weeks until your permanent crown arrives. When you return to your dentist's office, he will test the fit of your new crown and make adjustments before permanently attaching it to your tooth.