Crowns and Bridges
At Morgan Heights Dental Centre, we offer a range of restorative dental solutions to help protect and enhance your smile. Two of the most common options for restoring damaged or missing teeth are crowns and bridges.
Why Do We Need Dental Crowns?
A dental crown is essentially a protective cap placed over a tooth. It is used when a tooth is weakened due to decay, cracks, large fillings, or after a root canal. Crowns restore the shape, size, and strength of the tooth, while also improving its appearance.
A crown protects your tooth by restoring, supporting, and aesthetic improvements
How Does a Dental Crown Protect a Tooth?
Restoration: Crowns completely cover the visible portion of a tooth, providing protection from further damage.
Support: They strengthen weakened teeth, allowing normal chewing and functionality.
Aesthetic Improvement: Crowns are designed to look like natural teeth, enhancing the appearance of your smile.
Types of Crowns We Offer
At our clinic, we offer several types of crowns tailored to your specific needs:
All-Ceramic Crowns: These crowns are crafted entirely from ceramic materials, offering a natural look. For front teeth, we typically use highly aesthetic ceramic materials, while for posterior teeth, we often use zirconium, a very strong material. This makes zirconium crowns ideal for molars and teeth that need to withstand heavy chewing forces. Most all-ceramic crowns in our office are made in just one appointment using advanced CEREC technology.
Tooth Structure Removal: For all-ceramic crowns, we remove less than 1mm of tooth structure, preserving as much of your natural tooth as possible.
Full Gold Crowns: Known for their durability, gold crowns are a long-lasting option, typically used for molars.
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal (PFM) Crowns: These crowns combine the strength of metal with the natural look of porcelain, making them both strong and aesthetically pleasing.
Crowns vs. Bridges: What's the Difference?
While crowns are used to cover individual teeth, bridges replace one or more missing teeth by anchoring to adjacent healthy teeth.
Crowns are typically placed over a single tooth to restore its function and appearance.
Bridges, on the other hand, span the space where teeth are missing. They are secured by crowns on the teeth adjacent to the gap, filling the space with a natural-looking replacement tooth.
Dental Implants: Another Option for Restoring Missing Teeth
For patients missing a tooth, dental implants are another highly effective option. An implant involves placing a titanium post into the jawbone, which acts as a root, and then attaching a crown to restore the tooth.
Bridge vs. Implant: Which is Better?
Cost: Bridges are generally more affordable than implants, and dental insurance often covers more of the cost of bridges than implants.
Time: Bridges can typically be made within 10-14 days, while implants require a longer healing process, often taking 4-6 months to complete.
Durability and Long-Term Success: Dental implants are known for their long-term success rate. Implants fuse with the jawbone, providing a stable and durable foundation. They tend to last longer and have a lower risk of complications compared to bridges. In contrast, bridges may have a higher failure rate over time, especially due to difficulties in cleaning around and under the bridge. Plaque buildup can lead to decay on the supporting teeth, weakening them and eventually causing bridge failure.
Cleaning and Maintenance: One significant advantage of dental implants is that they are easier to clean. With implants, you can brush and floss just like with your natural teeth. On the other hand, cleaning a bridge can be more challenging. The area under the bridge (between the artificial tooth and your gums) requires a floss threader, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
Natural Feel: Dental implants feel more natural when chewing compared to bridges. Since the implant integrates with the jawbone, it mimics the function of a natural tooth root, providing a more natural bite and sensation while eating.
Contact us for an assessment and review the best treatment plan for you.
