Dental Bridges and Crowns – Excellent Alternatives to Lost or Missing Teeth

Have you lately lost your tooth/teeth? Do you find it traumatic emotionally or physically? A lot of people feel sorry for their decayed and lost teeth because after all teeth are our organs. They are precious and once we lose them, we realize how important they are for us. If you are such a sad person, I have good news for you. I just met dentists at dentistry in Anna Maria, FL, and they told me that lost teeth can be replaced without anyone else knowing that your teeth are not original. Let me share with you what I learned from the professionals.

Dental Bridges and Crowns

Both these are prosthetic devices that hide the fact from others that some teeth of yours are missing. They are not removable unlike dentures but are fixed on your existing teeth or implants and can be removed only by your dentist.

Dental Crowns – How do They Work?

A dental crown is designed for covering or serving as a ‘cap’ on a decayed tooth. It provides strength to the damaged tooth and also enhances its looks, alignment and shape. It can also serve as a tooth-like structure on an implant. Ceramic and porcelain crowns are popular because they resemble much like our natural teeth. However, acrylic or gold and other metals can also be used in making crowns. Metal alloys are of course stronger than porcelain and can be put on back teeth. Porcelain crown bonded to a metallic shell is also a great choice because it’s both – strong as well as attractive.

A crown can be useful for:

• Replacing a large filling where there is not much of tooth remaining to support the filling
• Restoring a fractured tooth
• Protecting a weakened tooth from getting fractured
• Covering a dental implant
• Attaching a bridge
• Covering a poorly shaped or discolored tooth or a tooth that has undergone a root canal procedure

Dental Bridges – How do They Work?

Bridges are useful when your tooth/teeth are missing. Gaps created by lost tooth/teeth eventually cause the neighboring teeth to be tilted and misshapen. This causes bad bite. It can also give rise to gum disease and also temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ). Bridges span the gaps formed by missing teeth. They are cemented to the teeth or implants adjacent to the gaps. These teeth used for supporting the bridges are known as abutments. A pontic is a replacement tooth which is attached to the crown covering the abutment. Just like you have a choice of materials in case of crowns, in bridges too you can choose a material like ceramic or porcelain which resembles the color of natural teeth.

How Durable are Crowns and Bridges?

Crowns and bridges can last forever though in rare cases they can fall out or get loosened. If you want them last longer, oral hygiene is very important. A bridge can come out if the tooth on which it is supported gets corroded due to decay. So, keep your teeth and gums healthy by brushing regularly with fluoride toothpaste and flossing. Regular visits to your dentist also keep you updated about any problem that can then be treated immediately.

Visit LocalDentalClinicDirectory.com to find your nearby dentist easily and get more information on various dental treatments.