Crowns & Bridges
What is a crown?
Crowns can be made of many materials, but most frequently they are porcelain, gold, or a combination of the two. Dr. Monette’s material of choice is porcelain because of the strength and esthetics of the material. Porcelain restorations can chew and function just as natural teeth, and should be virtually unnoticeable to the patient.
Crowns are typically recommended to restore teeth with significant structure loss, which often occurs from either decay or fracture. When a tooth has greater than 50% structure loss, it has significantly greater risk for fractures that can result in tooth loss. This is the point when your doctor will recommended a crown as the restorative option of preference.
Before
Preparation
Final Restoration
Before
Preparations
Final Restorations
What is Involved?
Your dentist will get the area numb with local anesthetic, remove decay, and replace all existing filling material to ensure clean and sealed tooth structure under your crown. In order to be restored with a crown, a tooth is reduced circumferentially1-2mm to accommodate necessary thickness of porcelain. Modern materials are incredibly strong and allow for conservative preparations. Once complete, the preparation is scanned digitally, and a temporary restoration is placed on the tooth. The final porcelain is fabricated by the lab, and about one month later your dentist will cement your new porcelain restoration to the tooth.
What is a Bridge?
A bridge is a series of fused porcelain restorations used to replace a missing tooth or teeth. Patients with a low decay rate and good oral hygiene can be great candidates for bridges.
The tooth preparation for a bridge is very similar to that of a crown, and materials can be highly esthetic. Bridges are typically second choice to implants as they have risk for decay and usually involve preparation of multiple teeth.
