Crowns and Bridges

Crowns

A Crown, or porcelain crown, is a cap, cover or restoration to replace the missing portion of a tooth.

There are many indications for crowning a tooth. These can be due to aesthetic considerations but most are due to a lack of remaining tooth structure. If a tooth is broken down or heavily filled, the crown is placed to protect the tooth from the high biting forces we exert on our teeth whilst eating.

Not all crowns are the same and we provide gold crowns, porcelain bonded to gold crowns at our London and Manchester clinics as well as the latest in the metal free alternatives that give truly lifelike results.

The latest advances in porcelain allows light to transmit through the crown, thereby creating a restoration that is undetectable from the other natural teeth in your smile. With the absence of any metal core on the inside of the crown, there will be no more telltale grey lines that are usually seen with the older metal ceramic crowns.

Bridges

If you require a more extensive restoration than a crown or have more than one tooth that needs to be repaired, a good solution is a bridge.

Bridges are usually made of a precious metal base which gives them a solid structure and makes them hard-wearing. If you need a bridge in your smile line, porcelain is usually added to the base to make it look more like real teeth. A bridge helps to strengthen the prepared teeth and makes chewing and eating easier because they are fixed and can’t come out.

Some bridges can also be fixed to your jaw with dental implants, if you have several teeth next to each other that are missing.

Once you have a bridge fitted, you will have to take extra care of your daily hygiene regime to ensure it stays plaque free and that you can prevent bad breath.