Crowns, bridges, posts and cores

Crowns

Dental crowns or caps are restorations that help to protect badly damaged, broken down or cracked teeth. A crown or cap can strengthen your damaged tooth. It is strongly fixed to the prepared tooth surface.

When are crowns recommended?

• if you have large cavities
• if a larger part of your tooth is missing
• if your tooth has undergone significant decay
• if you have had a dental implant (replacing a missing tooth)
• following root canal treatments to strengthen the tooth
• if your teeth are grinded down or have eroded
• if you would like to improve the aesthetics of your smile (with metal-free crowns)

In modern-day dentistry you can choose from a wide variety of dental materials:

• porcelain bonded to precious metal or gold crowns
• all (full) ceramic crowns (metal free)
• porcelain bonded to zirconium -oxide crown (metal free)

Ceramic and zirconium-oxide crowns are the best choice for a natural cosmetic look. Zirconia is a white powdered material, which serves as a framework for crowns and bridges. It serves as a replacement for gold and metal with the aim of creating a more translucent tooth. In cosmetic dentistry zirconia has been used for many years in order to achieve the most aesthetic result and it is the best material for bridges.

Dental Bridges

Missing teeth must be replaced. Dental bridges are false teeth, which serve as a device to fill, in an aesthetic and harmonious way, the gap caused by missing teeth. The teeth on both sides are the anchors for the bridge. Dental bridges are fixed to the teeth with special dental cement and cannot be removed.

A dental bridge is comprised of:

• pontic or false teeth or just a tooth, which replaces the missing teeth/tooth
• two or more crowns serve to anchor the false tooth or teeth in place

Dental bridges are needed and recommended when there are one or more missing teeth that have an influence on:

• your smile
• your bite
• your speech
• the rates of gum disease and tooth decay

Bridges may be made of:

• porcelain bonded to precious metal, gold or zirconium-oxide