Dental Crowns and Tooth Bridges
Helping you smile again
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(+593) 99-616-9760
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Miguel Cordero Dávila 1-80, Cuenca 010107
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What is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown is basically a tooth-like cap that is used to restore a tooth back to its original size and shape.
Dental crowns, were innovated and designed to help maintain the functionality of your damaged or diseased tooth-teeth. The purpose for installing a crown is to fully encapsulate and protect the last bit of your own compromised tooth and tooth roots.
Crowns are designed to be a permanent solution to broken, fragile or damaged teeth. The crown or ‘cap’ fits over the remains of the existing tooth and restores its original size, shape and strength while also improving its appearance.
Your dentist may recommend a crown to:
- Support a tooth that has a large filling when there isn’t enough natural tooth structure remaining
- Attach a bridge to replace missing teeth
- Protect a weak tooth from fracturing
- Restore a fractured tooth
- Cover a badly shaped or discolored tooth
- Cover a dental implant
How is a crown placed?
Several steps are involved, and a few dental visits are generally needed to complete the treatment.
• The dentist prepares the tooth by removing its outer portion so the crown will fit. Any decay is also removed. If additional tooth structure is needed to support the crown, the dentist may build up the core of the tooth.
• An impression is made to provide an exact model for the crown.
• You will get a temporary crown while you wait for the permanent crown to be ready – usually less than two weeks. While you have the temporary crown, this tooth may be sensitive to hot and cold. Also, avoid chewing gum or sticky foods during this time.
• The dentist or a laboratory technician then uses the model to help make the crown.
• When the new crown is ready, the dentist places it in your mouth and makes the necessary adjustments. When you and your dentist are satisfied with how it looks and feels, the crown is cemented in place.
The procedure for preparing your tooth for a crown should be carefully performed by a competent dentist to insure a secure fitting crown.
A properly fabricated crown will fit over your tooth with seamless precision, restoring the teeth’s natural appearance and function. That is one of the reasons why the pricing of a crown treatment may differ from practice to practice, and why it is important to find a reliable cosmetic dentist to do a good crowning job. The success rate and aesthetic outcome of your crown restoration depends much on the skills and experience of your dentist.
The use of dental crowns by millions of people from all over the world during the last century has been a mainstay in dentistry. Prior to the development of crown technology, the primary treatment for decaying, weak, fractured, or discolored tooth-teeth was extraction.
During the preparation phase it must be determined if your crown will be placed above or below the gum line?
The design of your crown and placement under or above the gum line depends on aesthetics, stability of the fit and hygienic benefits of its final positioning. Great care must be exercised to insure your permanent crown prevents future complications or damages to the health of your remaining tooth, its root and surrounding gum tissue.
Crowns are also used to attach bridges, cover implants, or prevent a cracked tooth from becoming worse.
Crowns also serve an aesthetic use and are applied when a discoloured or stained tooth needs to be restored to its natural appearance.
A bridge may be recommended if you’re missing one or more teeth. Gaps left by missing teeth eventually cause the remaining teeth to rotate or shift into the empty spaces, resulting in a bad bite. The imbalance caused by missing teeth can also lead to gum disease and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.
Crowns are sometimes confused with veneers, but they are quite different. Veneers are typically applied only to relatively small areas.
What are crowns made from?
Crowns are made from several types of materials. Metal alloys, ceramics, porcelain, composite resin, Lithium Disilicate, Zirconium, or combinations of these materials may be used. In the process of making a crown, the material often is coloured to blend in with your natural teeth.
Your dentist wants to create a crown that looks natural and fits comfortably in your mouth. To decide on the material for your crown, your dentist will consider the tooth location, the position of the gum tissue, the patient’s preference, the amount of tooth that shows when you smile, the colour or shade of the tooth, and the function of the tooth.
To prevent damage to a crown, there are a few things you can do:
• Brush twice a day and floss once a day to remove plaque, a sticky film of bacteria.
• Avoid chewing hard foods, ice or other hard objects, such as pencils. This is especially important for tooth-colored crowns.
• Be sure to see your dentist for regular exams and professional teeth cleanings.
Call: (+593) 99 616 9760
Miguel Cordero Dávila 1-80, Cuenca 010107
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Monday-Friday 8:30am-6:30pm.
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Schedule your appointment to learn more.