Crowns and bridges are dental treatments that work to restore damaged teeth or to replace missing ones.

Dental Crowns

Crowns are a cosmetic dental treatment used to strengthen a tooth or to improve its shape. They are used when a tooth has lost its structure or broken because of decay, trauma, or worn down from grinding. When a tooth filling needs to be replaced because of new decay, your tooth is at greater risk for fracture. In such cases, your dentist may recommend a crown where a cap is permanently affixed to an existing root structure to protect and strengthen it and to avoid the risk of breakage. Crowns are attached to an existing tooth, and in effect, the crown becomes your tooth’s new outer surface. Both porcelain and metals are used to make crowns, but porcelain crowns are most preferred as they are strong and look like natural teeth.

Benefits of getting a crown

• Crowns are a restorative treatment that adds to your oral health in the following ways:
• They restore the function of a damaged or decayed tooth
• They improve your chewing and speaking
• They replace an unattractive or missing tooth
• They prevent further damage to already compromised teeth
• They look completely natural
• They cap off a dental implant

Fitting A Dental Crown

Fitting a crown usually requires only two dental visits. We will remove the decay, shape your tooth, and affix it with a temporary crown during the first visit. On the next visit, we will replace the temporary crown with the final crown.

Dental Bridges

A bridge is a prosthetic tooth used when one or more teeth are missing or needs to be replaced. A bridge bridges the gap created by the missing teeth by replacing them with artificial teeth. Bridges can be made from alloys, porcelain, or gold, or a combination of these materials. In order to place a bridge to fill the gap created by missing teeth, the adjacent teeth will be trimmed to permit the bridge to fit over them.

Compared to other tooth-replacement methods, one significant advantage of bridges is that they are fixed in the mouth and are not removed. However, as they are placed on other teeth, it is essential to maintain a high level of oral hygiene to ensure that the supporting teeth do not experience decay or bone loss. 

Benefits of getting a bridge

When just one of your teeth goes missing, your entire oral health can be affected. By replacing your tooth, a bridge prevents many of these problems.

• Bridges prevent your natural teeth from shifting out of place into the missing tooth space
• Bridges help in the correct distribution of force in your bite
• Bridges keep your facial muscles from drooping into the space created by the missing tooth
• Bridges improve your speaking and chewing
• Bridges improve the aesthetic appearance of your smile

Fitting a dental bridge

Before fitting the dental bridge, the dentist will evaluate your specific needs and concerns to determine what dental bridge best suits you. Your teeth are then reshaped and prepared, and a digital impression of your teeth will be taken using a digital intraoral scanner. This impression is used to create a customized dental bridge. The final step of a dental bridge procedure is to cement your permanent dental bridge into the mouth.

Reach out to us on-call (510) 656-4400 or by scheduling an online consultation, and we’ll be happy to help you.