Dental Crowns

Dental Procedures

Crowns (Caps) and Bridges

Dental crowns are needed when a tooth has decayed enough where a dental filling would no longer be a good option of building back up the tooth. While crowns are a good option to restore single teeth, a bridge is multiple crowns that are connected. This can be done to restore 2 or more teeth that have had heavy decay, or can also be used to replace a missing tooth. This can be done by prepping the teeth on both sides of the missing tooth and create a 3 tooth bridge or more to replace a missing tooth.

What materials are crowns made from?
Crowns and bridges can be made from gold, porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM), and all ceramic materials.
Despite its lack of esthetics, gold is the best restorative material due to its high biocompatiility. A gold crown will also have the best adaptation and fit with the underlying tooth structure.
PFM has increased esthetics over gold, as the outer layer of a PFM crown is porcelain. There can be some gray, dark color noticeable near the gumline of a PFM crown, however. This is the result of the underlying metal of the PFM crown.
All ceramic crowns have the highest cosmetic potential, looking the most lifelike of all the restorative materials. Ceramics must be handled by a master ceramist in order to balance cosmetics with strength and durability.
What dictates whether a filling, crown, or bridge is needed?
Fillings are placed when enough tooth structure remains intact, while a crown is placed when the remaining tooth structure is too compromised to continue to stand alone. A bridge replaces missing teeth, and anchors off of the teeth on both sides of the open (missing tooth) space.

Dental Crowns and Bridges