Crowns And Bridges

Crowns or "caps" are dental restorations which completely cover the portion of a tooth that lie above the gum line. By comparison, fillings are restorations that fill in or cover over only a part of a tooth. Because a crown covers all of the visual aspect of a tooth, it becomes the "new tooth." Your old tooth is still present under the crown supporting it.

We generally recommend a crown for three possible reasons:

A) To restore a tooth to its original shape.
B) To strengthen a tooth.
C) To improve the cosmetic appearance of a tooth.

Crowns can be made out of a ceramic such as porcelain or zirconia, giving the patient a very natural appearing restoration. It can be made of metal such as gold or another alloy. It can be made of a resin material which is also very natural looking. Or it can be a combination of the above. A crown can be cemented or bonded onto the tooth. This then becomes the tooth's new outer surface and it is easy to see why the placement of a crown can help to strengthen the tooth by becoming its new outer hard shell. For these reasons, crowns are recommended for broken, worn, or decayed teeth. Crowns can be used to alter a misshaped or crooked tooth to appear more normal. They can also be used to change the shade of a tooth to match better with the rest of the mouth. A group of teeth can be crowned to redesign an entire cosmetic smile for the patient.

A crown probably should not be used as a means of improving the appearance of a previously unrestored healthy tooth if there are other alternative treatments possible that could achieve the same cosmetic results. This is because in order to place a crown on a tooth, the tooth must first be reduced in size by using a drill so that there is room for the new crown to fit over it. Other more conservative options such as bleaching (whitening), veneers, bonding, or orthodontics should be considered first.

A typical bridge is when there is a missing tooth space between two teeth. The teeth on both sides of the missing space can be crowned with the new replacement tooth sitting over the gum and attached on both sides to its neighboring crowned teeth.

We can discuss your crown and bridge options and design a treatment that is right for you.

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