Dental Crowns & Bridges
When it comes to keeping a picture perfect smile, we are proud to partner with our patients to help them achieve and maintain their optimal level of oral health. The Sevens Dental team focuses our treatment plans on prevention. We want to help our patients keep their smiles whole and healthy for a lifetime, but despite our best efforts, most patients still experience some tooth decay or dental damage over the years. That’s why we offer a wide range of restorative dentistry solutions. Two of the most commonly used restorations are dental crowns and fixed bridges. If you’re in need of a dental restoration, please don’t hesitate to call Sevens Dental to schedule an appointment in our state-of-the-art Clayton dental office.
Dental Crown Restoration
Dental crowns are restorations that fit completely over the top of a damaged tooth. They replace lost tooth structure and protect the tooth from additional damage. We may recommend dental crowns in the following situations:
- To repair damaged or decayed teeth
- To protect and strengthen root canal treated teeth
- To replace a lost filling
- To reshape or perfect a cosmetically flawed tooth
- As part of dental implant or fixed bridge tooth replacement
Fixed Bridge Tooth Replacement
A fixed bridge is a commonly used tooth replacement prosthetic. Crafted by attaching two dental crowns to one or more replacement teeth, these restorations are fitted over the top of healthy, surrounding teeth to fill a gap in your smile. We can also attach a fixed bridge prosthetic to dental implants to replace two or more consecutive missing teeth.
The Restoration Process
Both dental crowns and fixed bridges are created and placed over the course of two dental appointments. During your initial visit, we prepare the tooth by removing damaged structure and shaping the enamel to allow the dental crown to fit within the natural line of your smile. Then, we capture impressions of the bite that will be used by our lab to create your custom crown or bridge. Finally, a temporary is placed to protect your smile until your second appointment. When we receive the custom crown or bridge from the lab, you’ll return to our office to exchange your temporary with a flawless, customized restoration.
Caring for Your Repaired Teeth
Following your procedure, you may experience some slight tenderness. This is normal, but if you have severe pain that is not abated with over the counter pain relievers, this can be a serious problem. Call our team right away. Otherwise, you should avoid chewing on the side of the mouth with a temporary, and whenever possible, you should wait a few days after the placement of your final restoration to resume chewing as normal. To avoid unnecessary wear to your new restoration, we may also recommend that you switch to a softer toothbrush or less abrasive toothpaste. If you’re not already using a waxed floss, you may want to switch to one of these products to avoid tugging on the restorations which can loosen or even pull out your crown or bridge.