Tried and trusted ways to support teeth
If you read about dentistry in the 21st century, most of what is written is about amazing innovations. Incredible invisible braces that can straighten your teeth without anyone knowing. Wonderful white fillings that fill cavities and keep your smile looking perfect. Veneers to cover up imperfections. Dental implants to replace the whole tooth, root, and crown.
It’s easy to forget that most dentists, including the team at Smile Stories, still offer solutions that have been around for decades but have also been updated with new materials, equipment, and techniques to be even more effective.
Let’s take a look at two old favourites, crowns and bridges.
All about crowns
Crowns play a really important role in extending the life of teeth that aren’t doing so well above the gum line, but are still in great shape below it, in the tooth root. Roots are vital for maintaining healthy jawbone tissue, so you want to hang on to your natural teeth for as long as possible, and crowns help do this. Crowns are porcelain covers that fit over the entire tooth, strengthening its structure so that you can carry on chewing and biting. These days crowns are usually made of highly durable and strong porcelain that is colour-matched to the rest of your teeth.
If you have root canal therapy, we will put a crown over the top to protect your tooth. Crowns are also a great way to cover up amalgam fillings.
Bridges explained
This is a tried and tested way of restoring up to three lost teeth in a row. It is called a bridge because the replacement crowns are supported by crowns fitted over the two healthy teeth on either side of the gap. The teeth are ground into shape and fitted with false crowns made of metal. This is covered with porcelain if the abutment crowns are at the front of your mouth. If you have a bridge, as they are not removable for cleaning like dentures, you need to be extra diligent about removing plaque and cleaning so that you don’t get bad breath.