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Frederick, MD Dental Crowns
What Are Crowns?
Dental crowns are hollow, tooth-shaped shells that slip over teeth to protect and strengthen them. In size and shape, crowns look like the top portion of a natural tooth. Since the crown encases a tooth completely, the restoration is a good choice if you want to conceal an imperfection.
Crowns must be tough enough to handle the strong forces involved in chewing and biting. They're made of a variety of durable materials, including porcelain, porcelain-fused-to-metal, resin, ceramic, gold and nickel. At Pearlfection Dentistry, we typically use porcelain material for our crowns.
All crowns have a hollowed-out section inside, which allows them to fit snugly over the top of a natural tooth. The only exception are crowns that are used in the middle section of a bridge; these restorations are solid because they are taking the place of a missing natural tooth.
Dental Crown Process
You'll receive a temporary crown, which you'll wear for the next two or three weeks until your permanent crown arrives. When you return to our Frederick, MD office, we will test the fit of your new crown and make adjustments before permanently attaching it to your tooth with a bonding cement.
With proper care and regular checkups, crowns can last as long as 20 years, allowing the wearer to smile and eat normally without risking the health of the remaining teeth.
Why Are Crowns Recommended?
Your dentist may recommend a crown if you have one of the following problems:
- Cracks and Chips: Cracks and chips can weaken teeth and make them more susceptible to breaking. Adding a crown to your tooth strengthens it and prevents it from breaking.
- Broken Tooth: A crown restores a broken tooth and allows you to use the tooth to bite and chew again.
- Recent Dental Procedures: Large fillings and root canals are needed to repair and restore teeth, but they also tend to weaken teeth. A crown is necessary to protect and stabilize your tooth after these procedures.
- Discolored Teeth: Dental crowns hide discolorations that can dull your smile.
- Oddly Shaped or Crooked Teeth: When one tooth doesn't look like the others, you may feel self-conscious about your smile. Crowns help the tooth blend in with surrounding teeth.
- Short Teeth: It can be harder to bite or chew if one tooth is much shorter than surrounding teeth.
- Dental crowns offer an excellent way to protect teeth and improve your smile.
Caring For Your Crowns
With proper care, a good quality crown could last up to eight years or longer. It is very important to floss in the area of the crown to avoid excess plaque or collection of debris around the restoration.
Certain behaviors such as jaw clenching or bruxism (teeth grinding) significantly shorten the life of a crown. Moreover, eating brittle foods, ice or hard candy can compromise the adhesion of the crown, or even damage the crown.
Call PearlFection Dentistry in Frederick, MD at (301) 663-5550 to schedule an appointment with one of our dentists. Restore your smile with crowns!
Read on to learn about dental bridges from PearlFection Dentistry, which are used in conjunction with crowns to replace missing teeth.
Frederick, MD Dental Bridges
The purpose of the dental bridge is to replace one or more teeth in a row and to fill the gap left by the missing teeth. A dental bridge has two crowns on both sides of the restoration with a false tooth or teeth in the middle. The crowns are placed over a nearby healthy tooth to help support and anchor the bridge into place. The artificial tooth or teeth in the middle, also called pontics, can be made from materials such as gold or porcelain.
Benefits of Dental Bridgework
Dental bridges are a great option for many people looking to restore their smile and improve the ability to chew or speak, which are often affected by tooth loss. Also, because natural teeth begin to shift into the open gap left by the missing tooth, getting a dental bridge prevents teeth from moving out of place and affecting the overall structure and shape of your face. A bridge also improves your bite after tooth loss so that other teeth don’t become damaged or worn down due to an uneven bite.
Dental Bridge Procedure
When you come into our Frederick dental office to get a bridge, we will first need to examine your smile and make sure your mouth is healthy enough for treatment. Next, we will need to prepare the two natural teeth on each side of the gap so that they are ready for a crown. These teeth are shaved down to make room for the crown.
Then, we will take impressions of your teeth and a dental laboratory will use these impressions to make a dental bridge custom fitted to your mouth. In the meantime, a temporary bridge will be worn until your permanent one is ready.
During your last visit, the temporary bridge will be removed and the permanent bridge will be fitted and adjusted. It may take a couple visits to make sure that the bridge fits properly and that your bite isn’t affected. Once we have determined that your bridge is a good fit, it will be cemented into place.
Dental crowns and bridges offer an excellent way to restore or replace teeth. Call PearlFection Dentistry in Frederick, MD today
at (301) 663-5550 to schedule a consultation!
For our other location in Urbana, MD, call (301) 831-8303 .