A crown is placed on a single tooth, kind of like a thimble on a finger, so the tooth has to be prepped before the crown is made to make sure that there’s enough space for the different materials that make up a crown.
Crown preparation always tends to begin by getting rid of any unhealthy teeth and any old fillings to make sure there is nothing unhealthy going on beneath them. Often times a pulp cap will be placed on the tooth in order to protect the nerve and decrease risks of the patient needing a root canal later on. This is followed by a core build up to restore part of the missing tooth, so that there is sufficient tooth structure for the crown to fit in appropriately. There will be times when crown lengthening will be necessary due to cavities (tooth decay) that occurs below the gum line, an old filling or a fracture.
This procedure performed by a Seattle dentist removes some of the bone around the tooth and allows the crown to be completed on a healthy tooth structure and also allowing enough room between the end of the crown and the bone for healthy gums.
After all crown preparations are finished, an impression will be taken of the crown preparation by a Seattle dentist, the adjacent teeth and the opposing teeth are all vital for the laboratory to custom design and fit your specific crown to your mouth. This impression will be sent to a dental laboratory that will construct the crown as per the doctor’s prescription. Then a temporary crown will be placed on the final so as to protect the nerve underneath it, the patient will be able to eat and chew, and the esthetics of the area can be reestablished.
The doctor’s prescription specifies the materials to be used in the making of the crown; this varies from patient to patient. Many want strength and durability; therefore crowns are usually made of porcelain fused to gold. The gold presents strength, and takes away the possibility of the remaining tooth from fracturing; while the porcelain establishes the bite and fulfills the esthetic requests of the case.
When strength is ranked above looks for a patient, the best choice is gold.
This restoration is very effective and durable and has no porcelain that can crack and fall off. For front teeth where esthetic concerns are principal, there are many different types of crowns offered, such as porcelain fused with ceramics, impressible porcelain and milled ceramics.
These types of crowns give the highest esthetic results possible and are becoming tougher and more durable every year with all the research that is being done.
Bridges are much like crowns, they have many of the same qualities and characteristics. They are used to replace missing teeth. They fill in the empty spaces between the patient’s teeth. Like crowns, the doctor has the option of several different types of materials and combinations of materials to have the bridges made out of depending on the clinical and patience preference.
Once the crowns and bridges are completed they are cemented into place and become a fixed restoration; meaning that the patient cannot remove it manually. Only a seattle dentist can take out fixed crowns and bridges from a patient's mouth and when they are removed the crowns and bridges usually need to be redone. This has to happen because in order to remove the crown or bridge without potentially seriously hurting the tooth beneath it is to simply cut through the crown or bridge that is to be removed.