What Is a Dental Crown?
A dental crown, or cap, is a custom restoration that fits over a weak or damaged tooth to protect it and restore its strength, health, and natural appearance. Dr. Krampe may recommend a crown when a significant amount of your tooth’s structure is missing, if you’ve had a root canal treatment, or if you have a weak, cracked, or otherwise damaged tooth. Dental crowns can also restore missing teeth by covering dental implants or supporting dental bridges. They can even improve the appearance of not-so-perfect teeth, fulfilling your goals for your smile.
What Is a Dental Bridge?
A dental bridge offers a more convenient, comfortable, and natural-looking option for replacing one or more neighboring teeth than removable partial dentures. Your new restoration typically consists of dental crowns placed on teeth on either side of the space, called abutment teeth, with one or more replacement teeth in between.
Dental bridges offer numerous benefits. They stop the neighboring teeth from shifting toward the gap, which could otherwise result in crooked teeth and problems with the bite. The imbalance left by missing teeth can also increase the risk of tooth decay, gum disease, uneven tooth wear, tooth fracture, and TMJ pain. A dental bridge safeguards the integrity of your existing teeth and helps you chew and smile with confidence once again.
What Is the Dental Crown Procedure?
The crown procedure usually takes two visits to complete. We’ll start by numbing the area for your comfort and then prepare the affected tooth by removing some of its structure to make room for your new crown. If you don’t have enough tooth structure due to severe decay, we will rebuild the tooth so that it can support your crown.
Once the tooth is prepped, we will make impressions of the area for our partner dental lab, where skilled technicians will design a crown that matches your smile and your bite. The last
step is attaching a temporary crown to protect the prepared tooth until your permanent crown is ready. At your follow-up appointment, Dr. Krampe will remove your temporary crown, attach your permanent crown, and make any necessary adjustments for the best possible comfort, function, and aesthetics.
What Is the Dental Bridge Procedure?
The dental bridge process is similar to getting a dental crown. We will numb the area for your comfort and reshape the healthy teeth on either side of the gap to make room for dental crowns. Next, we will take impressions that our partner lab will use to create a dental bridge that looks, fits, and functions just like your natural teeth. The last step is placing a temporary bridge to protect your abutment teeth and fill the gap in your smile.
During an upcoming visit, Dr. Krampe will remove your temporary bridge, clean the area, and then place your new bridge. He will ensure it provides a perfect fit and match to your neighboring teeth before cementing in place. The last step is making any necessary adjustments for optimal comfort, function, and aesthetics.
The only modification to this process would occur if we have to remove a tooth at the time of the preparation. In this case, all the steps would remain the same. However, we would need to wait 4-6 weeks to take the final impressions for the lab. You would leave our office in a cemented, non-removable, temporary bridge, allowing you time to heal following the extraction. This ensures peak aesthetics and function of the dental bridge for years to come.
Dental Crowns and Bridges
Near Me in Holland, MI
Contact Shoreline Smiles to learn more about restoring your smile with a dental crown or bridge. Our high-quality, aesthetic restorations will leave you with a beautiful, healthy, and functional smile. Enjoy a new kind of dental experience today!
Dr. Krampe and his team welcome families in Holland, MI, and the surrounding communities to experience the Shoreline Smiles difference. Contact our office at 616-392-4198 to schedule an appointment or request one online today!