Crowns, Bridges, and Veneers
If a filling is no longer adequate to restore a large aount of lost or damaged tooth structure, you may need additional treatment to ensure long-term function.
Crowns
Crowns are custom-made teeth that function and look like natural, healthy teeth. Their purpose is to replace the entire structure of broken, cracked, or severely decayed teeth. Your molars especially take a lot of wear and tear being used every day, and are common teeth that may need their worn down structure replaced by a crown after decades of use or multiple fillings.
Imagine a filling that takes up over half of a tooth’s structure. The imbalanced forces on the filling and your natural tooth could result in an accidental fracture, and when that happens, we can’t predict how deep that fracture could go. If it goes too deep into the root and splits it, you might lose the tooth. It’s better to avoid that situation altogether by replacing a weakened tooth’s entire structure into one solid, durable form.
A crown will typically take two appointments with two weeks in between to complete. The first appointment will be preparing the tooth and spacing for the crown, taking an impression, and placing a temporary crown. The second appointment will be the placing and adjustment of the final permanent crown.
Bridges
Bridges are a way to permanently replace missing teeth without surgery. This requires preparing a crown on existing teeth on both sides of the missing tooth in order to “bridge” the gap with a prosthetic tooth supported by the crowns. A bridge is a traditional replacement method, and is effective and can be esthetic for front teeth replacement as well. It may be a great option if you do not have enough bone thickness required for an implant.
A bridge will typically take two appointments with two weeks in between to complete. The first appointment will be preparing the teeth and spacing for the bridge, taking an impression, and placing a temporary bridge. The second appointment will be the seating and adjustment of the final bridge.
Veneers
Veneers are a minimally invasive way to replace the entire visible front side of a tooth for cosmetic front teeth treatment. They are an option for resolving deeply stained, discolored front teeth, as well as correcting shape and structure defects.
A veneer will typically take several appointments to complete depending on the scenario. The procedure will be similar to crowns, though a planning stage and temporary stage may involve more appointments to adjust to your desired appearance.