What are Dental Bridges and Crowns?
Do you catch yourself wishing you had the perfect smile? Are you too embarrassed to laugh or smile because you’re scared of what hides behind your lips? Do you have misshapen, crooked, or missing teeth? Would you like to get the next big promotion or are you looking for a relationship? If you answered yes to any of those questions, keep reading! Unfortunately, not all of us are born with perfect, flawless teeth and as a result we have to work for it. Whether your teeth are discoloured, misshapen, your smile is crooked, or you’re missing teeth altogether, they have a drastic effect on your smile. Thankfully, advances in the cosmetic dentistry industry have inspired dentists to help people achieve their dream smile easily and painlessly. Let’s take a look at how your local cosmetic dental professional can change your smile, your look, and even your life!
There are a couple of very common and effective methods that your cosmetic dentist in Vancouver will likely employ in order to rectify any smile imperfections and enhance your look. These two methods are crowns and bridges. Alongside other corrective dentistry procedures such as veneers, crowns and bridges work effectively to straighten teeth, fix irregularities, and even replace missing teeth. Let’s take a more in-depth look at what each procedure is.
Dental bridges: If you have permanently lost a tooth, it is imperative that you fill the gap to prevent a long list of various complications. Missing teeth can be replaced with bridges. Consisting of at least two anchoring teeth known as the abutments on either side of where the tooth would be, and at least one fake tooth known as a pontic, dental bridges are a fantastic way to fill the holes in your smile! Pontics can be made up of numerous materials such as silver amalgam, porcelain or gold. Porcelain bridges are the number one choice for the replacement of a missing tooth because they offer a convenient, non-surgical solution to filling the gap and eliminate the need for dentures. Without the replacement of your missing tooth or teeth, you may experience severe alterations in your bite, shifting of teeth, or tooth over-eruption, resulting in diminished self-confidence due to the deteriorated appearance of your teeth. Believe it or not, your teeth play an integral part in helping to support your face. The placement of a porcelain bridge not only aids in restoring one’s smile and maintaining the overall face shape, but it also significantly contributes to your ability to speak and chew.
Dental crowns: Crowns are tooth-shaped caps that are placed over the tooth to restore its shape, size, strength, and improve its appearance. When properly placed, the crowns fully encircle the entire visible portion of the remaining tooth structure that lies at and above the gum line. Crowns are used to protect a tooth that has been weakened by decay and may crack or may hold a cracked tooth together. Crowns may also be used to restore an already broken tooth, a tooth that has been severely atrophied, to cover and support a tooth with a large filling, to hold a dental bridge in place, to cover misshapen or discoulored teeth, to cover a dental implant, or to make a cosmetic modification. Crowns can consist of stainless steel, metals, porcelain fused to metal, or composite resin.