dental crown and bridge

Dental Crowns
and Bridges in Newmarket

A Dental Crown is a tooth-shaped lab-fabricated restoration that is placed over the entire surface of an individual tooth. The dental crown covers and protects the tooth, restoring it to its original shape and size.  Crowns are typically recommended when a tooth has been broken, cracked, severely worn or contains very large fillings.  The benefit of a crown is that it provides additional strength to an undermined tooth and reduces the risk of it fracturing.  In some cases, crowns can be made for aesthetic reasons where a different shade of tooth is desired (e.g. if the tooth is heavily stained etc) or where a tooth shape is not ideal and a different size/shape is sought.  Crown procedures typically take 2 appointments.  The first appointment involves preparing the tooth and the second appointment involves cementing the permanent crown onto the tooth.

A Dental Bridge is also a type of a lab-fabricated restoration that replaces one or more missing teeth.  A bridge is similar to a crown in that it is cemented onto existing tooth or teeth and takes 2 appointments to fabricate.  A bridge has a span of 2 or more teeth.  In contrast to a crown, bridges are essentially two or more crowns connected together – some of which are placed onto existing teeth, and some of which are “false” and simply fill a space but do not actually mount onto a tooth.  Bridges are a permanent tooth replacement option.  Their main benefits over an implant are that they do not involve an invasive surgery and that they can be made within 2 weeks.  In contrast an implant may take anywhere between 4 and 12 months to complete from start to finish and is more invasive because it involves embedding a screw into the jawbone.