Single Crown Restorations and Fixed Bridges

A crown is a laboratory-made dental restoration that covers your entire tooth. Crowns may be placed for several reasons: Usually the better portion of the tooth has been broken or damaged by decay or trauma. As a result, a filling can't replace enough of the tooth or make the tooth strong enough. A crown may hold together parts of a cracked tooth. It also can be used to hold a bridge in place if a tooth is missing between two teeth that already are in need of extensive restorations. In addition, crowns can be used to improve appearance: they may be placed to cover misshapen or badly discolored teeth.

Crowns are custom-made in a laboratory. Prefabricated crowns are made of acrylic/plastics and are used on a temporary basis until a permanent crown is made. Crowns can be all metal, porcelain fused to metal (PFM), or all ceramic. Metals include gold and noble metal alloys. PFM and all-ceramic crowns are the same color as your natural teeth. They  look just like normal teeth.

Under specific and ideal circumstances, short all-ceramic (porcelain) bridges may be made without the need for metal reinforcement, but it is still very common to fabricate a bridge to replace several missing teeth using a hidden strong noble metal that is fully covered with porcelain and appears just like natural teeth. As each situation is different, we invite you to contact us if you have questions about your dental needs. We will gladly do a thorough evaluation and advise you on your treatment choices.