Crowns & bridges

Crowns (or caps) are custom-made dental restorations that fit over damaged teeth to protect them and make them look like natural teeth again.

To create a crown the damaged tooth is first prepared to the correct shape and an impression is then taken and sent to the laboratory technician. The technician then carefully constructs the new crown which is then returned back to the dentist for fitting onto the tooth.

Crowns not only strengthen and protect damaged teeth, they also improve their appearance.

Crowns are often made from a combination of metal covered by porcelain but can also be made entirely from ceramic material in certain situations.

Crowns are still sometimes also made from gold.

Dental crowns can be used for many reasons, such as:

A tooth is badly decayed or broken and the damage is too much to repair with a simple filling
A tooth already contains a large filling and more tooth has broken away
A tooth is badly worn
To protect a tooth that has been root-filled
To improve the appearance of teeth
To support a dental bridge
To complete dental implant treatment

Dental bridges are combinations of crowns and false teeth (pontics) that are joined together and used to replace missing teeth. Unlike dentures, bridges are fixed onto the teeth and are not removable. Hence, bridges look and feel very natural.