Dental Crowns (caps) & Bridges Liverpool
Dental crowns (often referred to as caps) play an important part in restoring missing or broken teeth. Dental crowns rebuild single or multiple broken down teeth, and dental bridges work together with dental implants to replace missing teeth.
Dental Crowns (Caps)
Dental tooth crowns help to restore broken down teeth by rebuilding them to their former shape and function. Dental crowns can also be used to completely change the shape of teeth to give them better function or to change your cosmetic appearance.
Common questions and answers about dental crowns
What are tooth crowns made of?
Dental crowns can be made for a variety of materials but most include some form of ceramic. The ceramic is to coloured and blends in naturally with your surrounding teeth. Typically a dental crown will have a high-strength core material, very often this is zirconia (zirconium oxide). This gives an incredibly hard base layer onto which the ceramic is applied by a dental technician. Sometimes dental crowns are made entirely from zirconia, this can make them incredibly strong and hard wearing. These types of crown are known as metal free and they allow light to pass through them giving the translucency of natural teeth.
How do they cap a tooth
A tooth cap is done in several stages:
- Initial consultation or treatment planning. This is where the different types of crown will be discussed with you, along with their cost.
- Tooth preparation. The tooth area will be anaesthetised to make it completely numb, the tooth will then be prepared (trimmed down) to a stump. An impression of this stump will then be made and sent to the dental laboratory. A temporary plastic crown will be fitted. The dental laboratory then manufacture your new tooth and send it back to the dental practice to be fitted. The manufacturing process usually takes two weeks.
- Fitting. You attend the dental practice again, two weeks after your preparation appointment. The truth will be anaesthetised again, the temporary plastic crown removed and the permanent dental crown fitted using a special cement adhesive.
How long the dental crowns last?
Generally speaking dental crowns can last up to 15 years, although if you look after the crown and protect it, they can last a lifetime.
What is dental crown lengthening?
Dental crown lengthening is used for people with a gummy smile, in other words people but have more teeth and lots of gum. The teeth are prepared into a stump and the gum is trimmed away to make the tooth look longer. This has the effect of making the teeth look more athletic and reducing the amount of gum on display when the patient smiles.
What to expect when getting a dental crown
The whole process can be comfortable and painless. After you have had the two prepared and you are wearing the temporary crown, it might be best to avoid strong coloured food such as red wine or curry. The temporary crown can discover quite easily and can look unsightly, especially on front teeth.
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Dental bridges to replace missing teeth
A dental bridge does literally as the name suggests, bridges the gap between the teeth either side of the space, to fill the gap where you had a missing tooth with a new one. There are classically two different ways of bridging the gap and suspending the tooth in the middle.
- Standard dental bridge. This is where the teeth either side of the is trimmed down to a stump. A crownaa are made over the stump and the missing tooth is supported off of these crowns.So if you have a single missing tooth, your new bridge would have three teeth on it. A conventional dental bridge can often be used to replace up to 3 missing teeth
- Cantilever bridge. This is where a single tooth is trimmed down to a stump, this tooth supports the missing tooth. Cantilever bridges are usually only used for a single missing tooth.
- Maryland dental bridge. This is where a wing sticks out from the side of the replacement tooth in the, the wings sticks to the inside of the teeth either side.
Common questions and answers about dental bridges
I need a dental bridge for front teeth, what are my options?
If you have a missing tooth upfront you usually have 4 options:
- Do nothing and leave the gap. This clearly has cosmetic implications but also can affect the surrounding teeth as they well have a tendency to drift and tip into the space.
- Dental bridges. The most minimally invasive way to do this is using Maryland bridge with a wing either side of the new false tooth, these can however have a tendency to fall out. A cantilever bridge is where a single tooth on one side of the is trimmed down to a stump and the new false tooth hangs off of this. You could also have a conventional bridge where teeth either side of the gap(s) are trimmed down.
- Dental implants.
- Dentures.
Dental bridge problems
There are usually very few problems with dental bridges. Sometimes the gum where the truth has been lost continues to resorb, this can then create a gap underneath the new false tooth. This is why dentists may often prefer to have dental implants instead of bridges, the implant can help to prevent this bone loss. You will also need to look after your dental bridge just like you would a natural tooth, if you maintain it, clean it and are careful then a dental bridge should last many years, sometimes a lifetime
Dental bridge versus implant
Whenever you have a tooth removed the bone will continue to resorb/shrink around that area. As the bone shrinks the gum goes with it. This happens quite often with a dental bridge, and can sometimes continue after the dental bridge is fitted creating a underneath the new false tooth. Dental implants, on the other hand, can almost stop this bone shrinkage as the implant goes into the hole where the tooth was.
Read more about dental implants
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