If your smile has suffered some indignities that have you searching for aid from a Bismark dentist, you may find yourself confused by some of the dental restoration options out there. Do you need a crown, a bridge or both? What’s the difference between these two restorations, and where do their functions overlap? Let’s look at some key factors that distinguish crowns and bridges from each other.
Dental Crowns: Strong Restorations to Support Individual Teeth
A dental crown, also referred to as a cap, covers a damaged, weakened or unsightly tooth to restore both its good looks and its functionality. If you’ve ever seen someone sporting a gold or silver tooth, you were looking at a traditional type of crown. Today, however, many people prefer to receive crowns made of tooth-colored porcelain or ceramic alloys. These crowns look right at home beside natural teeth, resulting in seamless smile restoration.
Crowns lend much-needed extra strength to fractured teeth and teeth which have undergone root canal therapy. You may also want to have a crown placed on a badly discolored tooth that doesn’t respond to professional whitening attempts.
Dental Bridges: Appliances for Replacing Missing Teeth
Instead of supporting a weakened tooth or hiding tooth stains, a dental bridge replaces a missing tooth. However, while this device serves a different purpose than a standalone dental crown, it may also call for crowns as a crucial factor in its installation. Your dentist prepares the teeth next to the gap in your smile for crowns. The bridge itself includes one or more artificial teeth attached to these crowns, which will serve as permanent anchors to hold the bridge in place. Besides enhancing your smile and your chewing ability, a bridge can keep your teeth from shifting and altering your bite.
Another area in which crowns and tooth replacements overlap involves dental implants. After you have healed from the surgery to implant a metal post in your jaw, your dentist will attach a permanent crown to the post, either with adhesives or via an internal screw mechanism. You can implant a dental bridge or even an entire denture plate in this manner. Crown-topped individual implants or implanted bridges look and work just like real teeth.
Whether you need a dental bridge, a crown or some other form of restorative dentistry, choose the dentist Bismarck, ND trusts. Contact Brend Dental today to schedule an appointment with our Bismarck dentist.
