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Crowns & Bridges
In
dentistry, a crown or bridge refers to the restoration of natural teeth that
have been damaged, decayed or lost. A crown can be made to restore an
individual tooth damaged by decay or fracture. A bridge is used to replace one or more missing teeth. These
restorations are cemented onto the teeth and are referred to as "fixed"
dentistry as opposed to a restoration of missing teeth with a removable
appliance or partial denture.
Both procedures
require the use of a local anesthetic and the preparation of the tooth.
A badly decayed or broken tooth may require that the tooth be "built up"
with a special restorative material during its preparation. A fixed bridge, spans
the area of a missing tooth or teeth. The teeth on either side of the
missing tooth/teeth are prepared as with a crown and are "bridged" to
together with a false tooth suspended between the two crowns. An impression
is taken of the prepared area, and a temporary crown or bridge is plac
After about two weeks, the crown or bridge is ready to be fitted, adjusted,
and cemented in place.
Crowns
and bridges can be made of several materials. Full gold crowns can be done on the very last teeth in the mouth where strength is most important
and appearance is less important. While cheaper non-precious metals and low
gold metals are available, Dr. Gilmore uses "High Noble Metal" gold for his
crowns and bridges.
Porcelain fused to metal offers most of the strength of full gold with the
esthetics of a tooth . A thin layer of "High Noble Metal" is made to
precisely fit over the prepared tooth model, then porcelain is layered
and fired in a ceramic oven at over 2000 degrees, till the desired shape and
size is achieved. Most of Dr. Gilmore's crowns are of this variety.
Front teeth can be
restored with porcelain fused to gold, but sometimes an all porcelain crown
is used.
With porcelain fused to gold and all porcelain crowns, the color of the porcelain is shaded to match the existing
teeth, or in some cases, lighter to cosmetically brighten the smile.
Some of the indications for a crown are:
 | A previously filled tooth where there now exists more filling than
tooth. The existing tooth structure becomes weakened and can no longer
support the filling. |
 | Extensive damage by decay. |
 | Discolorations and compromised esthetics. |
 | Fractures |
 | Root canal - After root canal, teeth tend to become brittle and are
more apt to fracture. These teeth need to be protected by a crown. |
 | Bridges are recommended to replace one or two missing teeth. They
require healthy adjacent teeth to support the replacement teeth. |
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